Neele-Vat at TV Rijnmond

Jaime van der Pol Neele-Vat) and Alex van der Putten (LCH)

With this quantity, the affiliated 6,000 healthcare facilities can get by for eight weeks. If soon all the 1.9 billion purchased resources are brought in from China, caregivers will be able to do their work for dozens of weeks protected.

Joint procurement

The LCH is an initiative of the government, hospitals and medical procurement and logistics companies, to work together to eliminate shortages. From the LCH, medical devices threatened with shortages are jointly purchased and distributed.

Van der Putten: "We started when the need was greatest. The first batch of stuff was brought in by more than 250 planes from China and Malaysia in March because of the speed. Over time, trains and boats were also used and we are now opting for these more and more often. Neele-Vat handles the ocean freight; Kühne+Nagel the train part, and it all arrives at the port of Rotterdam."

The items are stored in secret locations, not only in Rotterdam but elsewhere scattered throughout the middle of the country. The secrecy surrounding the locations is meant to deter possible theft. "That is also why we choose multiple, strategically dispersed warehouses," he said.

Five sheds rented

Jaime van der Pol coordinates ocean freight from Neele-Vat. We speak to her in a warehouse in the Botlek. "At the moment this shed holds five thousand pallets of bulk storage, but there will be many more in the coming days. We have also temporarily rented four other sheds elsewhere."

Forklifts drive back and forth, bringing in the bulk. For now, much of it remains in the storage sheds. "We hope not, but suppose there's another corona outbreak, we'll be able to ship out quickly," he says. From a distribution center elsewhere in the country, current inventories are maintained at healthcare facilities.

She is delighted with the cooperation with the other partners. "So nice to see how we have joined hands here at the Port of Rotterdam to bring these quantities from the Far East to the Netherlands. That had never happened like this before the corona crisis."

Second corona wave

LCH coordinator van der Putten is not worried about sheds remaining full as long as a second corona wave is not forthcoming. "The stuff doesn't expire for a couple of years, so we have a couple of years to come up with a solution for that."

The LCH stands by the quality of its products. "We only work with internationally certified companies and every batch is checked for quality upon arrival. We don't trust say anything."

Domestic production

Therefore, the Ministry of Health also wants to become less dependent on foreign countries. Van der Putten: "The goal is to have 25 percent of protective agents produced domestically. Eleven companies are already working on this and we hope to make this operational in the near future."

If successful, Alex van der Putten's job will be over and he can return to the Radboud Hospital in Nijmegen, where he has been temporarily released. "We started as LCH from scarcity, as an emergency line. Hopefully soon the market itself will be able to meet the need and we can quickly step back."