Adventist Buys Minority Stake in Prestige Ameritech

Adventist Health has partnered with North Carolina health care improvement company Premier Inc. to acquire a minority stake in Prestige Ameritech — one of the largest domestic manufacturers of personal protective equipment. According to a statement from Adventist, which has locations in Simi Valley and Glendale, the health care system will purchase N95 masks, surgical masks and other PPE from Fort Worth-based Ameritech for up to six years. Equipment purchases don’t have to exclusively be from the company, Adventist said. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “Overreliance on foreign manufacturers is a key reason why we’ve had concerns about the consistency of available PPE supplies at care sites across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic,” John Beaman, chief business officer for Adventist, said in a statement. “With this long-term agreement, Adventist Health is breaking that cycle to fund domestic alternatives. Not only does this create more diversity in the supply chain, it also helps ensure that our workforce has the supplies they need to stay safe, healthy and able to provide quality care for the patients that count on us.” Approximately 80 percent of the nation’s PPE supplies are being sourced overseas, Adventist said, coming from China and Southeast Asia. “The risks associated with this overreliance on Asia came into sharp focus earlier this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe and these nations closed borders and prevented U.S. access to supplies, triggering widespread shortages of products needed to protect health care workers,” the system said in a statement. By contrast, Ameritech has a primarily domestic supply chain, with raw materials drawn and production capabilities kept in the U.S.; Ameritech also does all of its business with U.S. customers.