MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Owens & Minor medical supply logistics center is officially open in the Morgantown Industrial Park.
The 350,000-square-foot building sits on 30 acres with 53 loading docks and is expected to employ 100 or more by the end of the year.
There was a ribbon cutting Monday.
The facility is fitted with advanced robotics technology that leverages human expertise to increase efficiencies. Owens & Minor President and CEO Edward Pesicka said the operation is dedicated to serving the needs of the West Virginia University Medicine system network of 25 acute care hospitals and the state of West Virginia.
“First and foremost, we are here to support the WVU Medicine system, and that’s really part of our mission,” Pesicka said. “Second is to bring jobs into the area, and our goal is to bring 100 new jobs by the end of the year.”
Five years ago, the healthcare industry had very few direct sources of personal protective equipment during the pandemic. The partnership scraps the “just in time” supply system in favor of large quantities of all types available through a warehouse just miles away from where the needs are.
“We tend to take a lot of things for granted in life,” Wright said. “Supplies and distribution of supplies during COVID caught us off guard and changed the way we thought about things.”
Wright said the plan to bring Owens & Minor to the area was a good fit for their business model, creating a new reliable local supply chain for important supplies with the bonus of creating long-term economic development in Monongalia County.
“If we could actually positively impact economic development and have the facility here, because the supplies are going to have to come anyway and we’re big enough, we could bring the facility here; that’s even better,” Wright said. “Today is the fruition of that dream.”
All WVU Medicine linens are washed and prepared nearby, creating the opportunity to operate the supply part of the business with additional efficiencies. Wright envisions a truck that could carry linens, medicine, and medical supplies while also being able to provide return service for soiled linens and items that need to be returned.
“It all becomes more streamlined and cost-effective, and this is part of that bigger vision,” Wright said.
Pesicka said this is an opportunity for Owens & Minor to expand their reach and the bottom line. As the relationship with WVU Medicine becomes more clear, some additional warehouse capacity could be dedicated to supplying other hospital systems in the region.
“We didn’t build this facility for just today; we built this facility for the next decade plus,” Pesicka said. “So, we can scale and grow as the health system grows; we want to grow with them.”