Some Minnesota hospitals have implemented conservation measures as of this weekend related to a nationwide shortage of IV fluids, including rescheduling non-emergency surgeries in some cases, according to the Minnesota Hospital Association.

Baxter International, the country’s biggest supplier of IV fluids, shut down its largest North Carolina plant last week due to flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Nearly 200 hospital leaders in Minnesota convened on Friday to discuss the shortage and make plans to conserve the supply for the time being, according to a statement from Jennifer Schoenecker, Vice President of Quality and Safety with the Minnesota Hospital Association.

Kelly Schmitt of North Branch said she received a surgery cancelation call that day.

Schmitt’s one-and-a-half-year-old son, Ryker, is a patient at Allina Health, and he was scheduled for surgery to help mitigate reoccurring ear infections.

“As soon as he gets done with one, he has another one,” Schmitt said. “And as a result of his reoccurring ear infections, he has had some hearing loss, and so their decision was to do tubes so that they could drain properly.”

That surgery was scheduled for Tuesday at Allina Health, she said.

Then on Friday, Schmitt said, “They called me and told me that they’d have to cancel his appointment for his surgery because they are having a shortage, and as a result, they are canceling all non-life threatening surgeries.”

In a statement on Sunday, Allina Health confirmed it is “temporarily adjusting non-emergency surgery schedules” as part of a larger strategy to conserve IV solutions for patients with urgent care needs.

“Rescheduling and delaying non-emergency surgeries are decisions Allina Health does not take lightly, as we understand the impact it has on our patients and our providers. Patients who may be affected by temporary surgery schedule changes will be contacted directly.”

Similar conservation plans have been implemented across the state, including “alternative therapies, and in some cases rescheduling non-emergent surgeries,” according to the statement from Schoenecker with the Minnesota Hospital Association.

On Thursday, North Memorial Health Pharmacy System Director Mike Waldt told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Baxter is their “primary IV fluid supplier.”

“I think every hospital in the area and probably everywhere in the country is going to feel the pain of this,” Waldt continued.

Baxter International is in the process of its own mitigation efforts, including “exploring alternative production sites,” Schoenecker added in the same statement provided on Saturday.

“However, we do not know if those remediation efforts will produce results in the short term,” she continued.

In conclusion, Schmitt said she was disappointed about the cancelation but was sympathetic given the devastation in the southeast.

“Hard to see the surgery canceled when we’ve been waiting for it,” she said. “But I understand why they’re having to do it, and I feel for those people who were affected by this terrible event.”

In an update late last week, Baxter International said the company is working urgently to restore operations at the North Carolina plant, but they don’t know exactly when it will be back up and running.

In the meantime, the company said it’s limiting the number of supplies any one facility can order to avoid stockpiling and keep the distribution of IV fluids as equitable as possible.