Washington, D.C. – Today, at the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) Conference and Business Exposition in Washington, D.C., FAH awarded the Owens & Minor Asheville Kitting Facility the 2025 Heartbeat of Healthcare for Suppliers award for their incredible efforts in caring for their community and ensuring their operations went uninterrupted following Hurricane Helene.

The Owens & Minor Kitting Facility produces vital health care supply kits used across all areas of patient care. The facility, a product storage, kit assembly, and distribution hub, ensures hospitals across the United States, Canada, and Latin America have the essentials for safe patient care.

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene descended upon the Southeast, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Among those directly affected were 371 workers of the Owens & Minor Kitting Facility, which sits in Arden, a small community just south of Asheville. Despite the unimaginable circumstances, the team focused on helping each other and, soon after, continuing operations. In the aftermath of the storm, the Owens & Minor Kitting team quickly mobilized to ensure the safety of the 371 teammates – and knowing the facility’s role in providing vital health care supply kits, went back to work seven days later with over 85% of the workforce. During this time, Owens & Minor ensured their workers were well-supported by providing essentials such as bottled water, food, and other critical supplies to sustain them through the adversity.

Since 2021, the Heartbeat of Healthcare Award has recognized the dedicated supply chain professionals and groups that have been quietly improving patient care, accelerating innovation, and building resilience across their communities. This annual award acknowledges two vital players in the health care industry: providers and suppliers. In the spirit of the awards being industrywide, the Heartbeat of Healthcare for Providers award will be announced this fall at the AHRMM conference in Denver, CO.