LELAND, N.C. (WECT) – Once a month, Pat Hairston travels from her Wilmington home to Cape Fear Arthritis Care in Leland.

There, Hairston receives an IV infusion with REMICADE, a drug that treats her rare autoimmune disease – non-radiological axial spondyloarthritis – which causes her significant joint pain. Beforehand, though, she requires 250 mL of additional fluids to help mitigate headaches the drug causes.

However, during her most recent appointment on Wednesday, Hairston found out that due to the nationwide saline shortage, there was no additional fluid available for her. Instead, the clinic recommended she hydrate before her appointment.

“I was a little taken aback because I realized the implications are far greater than just me,” Hairston said.

The shortage, caused by the closing of Baxter International’s North Cove manufacturing plant in Marion due to extensive Hurricane Helene damage, has impacted medical providers and patients around the country – including in southeast North Carolina.

Baxter’s North Cove location is the largest IV solutions manufacturer in the U.S., producing about 60% of the solutions used every day in the U.S., according to the American Hospital Association.

Baxter did post an update on its website Thursday, announcing that manufacturing for the highest throughput IV solutions will restart within the next week. A timeline for when production will return to pre-Helene levels is still unknown, though.

Cape Fear Arthritis Care and the Novant Health system are two health providers in the region affected. Cape Fear Arthritis Care’s Executive Director of Operations Connie Moscati said they’re rationing saline until further notice, and only giving patients the precise amount they need – and nothing more.

Last week, Novant confirmed through a spokesperson statement that they were actively conserving IV supplies, but didn’t foresee any impact on patient care.

Hospitals around the state have been affected, too. UNC Health Pardee Chief Medical Officer Greg McCarty said they’ve been forced to postpone some non-emergency procedures since the plant closed.

“We have been given the directive to reduce our usage to 40% of normal,” McCarty said. “We have done that by working with colleagues and developing an evidence-based strategy that conserves IV fluids.”

Hairston realizes her needs are minor. She says she’ll hydrate extra on her own before any other transfusions, but she’s still concerned that further depletion of the supply could be devastating to the health of her and others.

“It’s concerning,” she said. “I know if my medication stopped, I would be in significant pain and it would limit my ability to move around at all.”

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