As hospitals begin to reopen to elective procedures, the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR) is pleased that all its members are fully operational.  Single-use device (SUD) reprocessing programs are more important than ever and reprocessors are working expeditiously with our thousands of hospital and surgical center partners to ensure smooth continued collections of devices.  The financial impact associated with COVID, including lost hospital revenue due to the elective procedure freeze, has left hospitals financially devastated.  Now more than ever before, reprocessing programs, including collections and preparation for shipment back to reprocessing facilities, must continue and be prioritized to help hospitals save money.
Reprocessing plays a critical role in helping hospitals build a more secure and controlled healthcare supply chain.  In light of the PPE challenges brought on by COVID, many healthcare staff will never take for granted again the medical device and supply assets available to them. Extending the life of the devices you have reduces the need to buy more and rely on a strained supply chain to deliver.  
Reprocessing collection programs continue.  Please do NOT throw away devices eligible for reprocessing out of infection/transmission concerns.  All US FDA and EU MDR regulated reprocessors are required to have in place protocols that ensure the highest standards of safety during collection, shipment, decontamination and ultimate cleaning, disinfection or sterilization of devices.  Our members’ processes were designed to prevent cross contamination and assure medical devices are safe and effective for reuse.  Medical devices are valuable assets – please put them in reprocessing collection containers as per usual procedure.
Reprocessing companies are Essential Businesses ensuring medical devices are available to front line workers.  Especially during these critical times, please ensure your reprocessing partner has continued access to collection containers so that our members may continue to provide reprocessed products with minimal supply chain disruption.  If our collection technicians have limited access to your facilities at this time, AMDR urges hospitals and surgical centers to make temporary, alternative arrangements with their reprocessing vendor to see devices are shipped back.