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 shipment of goods was brought in from China and Malaysia in March using more than 250 planes to ensure speed. Over time, trains and ships were also deployed, and we’re now opting for those more and more often. Neele-Vat handles the ocean freight; Kühne+Nagel handles the rail portion. And it all arrives at the Port of Rotterdam.”

The goods are stored at secret locations, not only in Rotterdam but also elsewhere throughout the central part of the country. The secrecy surrounding the locations is intended to deter potential theft. “That’s why we’ve also opted for multiple, strategically distributed warehouses.”

Five sheds rented

Jaime van der Pol coordinates ocean freight operations from Neele-Vat . We spoke with her at a warehouse in the Botlek. “Right now, there are 5,000 pallets of bulk cargo in this warehouse, but that number will increase significantly in the coming days. We’ve also temporarily rented four other warehouses elsewhere.”

Forklifts come and go to bring in the bulk cargo. For now, a large portion remains in the storage warehouses. “We hope not, but if there were to be another COVID-19 outbreak, we could deliver quickly.” Current inventory levels at healthcare facilities are maintained from a distribution center elsewhere in the country.

She is very pleased with the collaboration with the other partners. “It’s so wonderful to see how we’ve joined forces here in the Port of Rotterdam to bring these volumes from the Far East to the Netherlands. That would never have happened before the COVID-19 crisis.”

Second corona wave

LCH coordinator van der Putten is not concerned about warehouses remaining full, as long as a second wave of COVID-19 does not occur. “The goods won’t expire for several years, so we have a few years to come up with a solution for that.”

LCH stands for product quality. “We work exclusively with internationally certified companies, and every shipment is inspected for quality upon arrival. We don’t take anything for granted.”

Domestic production

The Ministry of Health therefore also aims to become less dependent on foreign sources. Van der Putten: “The goal is to have 25 percent of protective equipment produced domestically. Eleven companies are already collaborating on this, and we hope to make this operational in the near future.”

If this succeeds, Alex van der Putten’s work will be done, and he can return to Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, where he has been temporarily released from his duties. “We at LCH started out of necessity, as a lifeline. Hopefully, the market will soon be able to meet the demand on its own, and we can quickly take a step back.”