Alexandria, VA -- U.S. medical products distributors moved 59.4 billion units of pandemic-related supplies including 26 billion units of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the first half 2020 to help healthcare providers combat COVID-19 and to enable them to continue routine patient care.

This marks a 16% increase from the 51.3 billion units of pandemic-related products shipped in the first half of 2019, and a 24% jump from the 21.5 billion units of PPE shipped in 2019 during the same time period.

The nation’s more than 200 healthcare distributors procured PPE such as gloves, gowns, respirators, face masks, and related critical medical supplies from around the globe and got them to frontline U.S. healthcare workers and the patients they serve.

“Distributors were able to move this astounding amount of PPE in just six months to the 300,000 healthcare provider locations across the U.S. thanks to their logistics expertise and vetted, professional networks,” said Health Industry Distributors Association President & CEO Matthew J. Rowan. “It shows distributors’ deep commitment to their healthcare provider customers to ensure they get the FDA-approved supplies they need.”

Healthcare providers rely on distributors and their more than 250,000 employees for their supplies. U.S. medical products distributors serve the nation’s 6,000 hospitals, 44,500 nursing homes and assisted living facilities, 230,000 physician offices, 267,000 laboratories and 12,200 home health agencies.

Established distributors deliver quality PPE to providers by vetting and onboarding new suppliers, expediting shipping and delivery to all healthcare provider settings, coordinating with current suppliers to ramp up production, and by helping healthcare providers determine supply availability and delivery dates.