People making tough times tolerable

The global pandemic proved that strong people could make the impossible happen according to Dianne Joannidis, Manager — Aged Care & OxyCare at BOC in Australia.

Q: What was the biggest pandemic issue for aged care providers?

It was crucial for aged care and healthcare providers to have a constant supply of medical gases, respiratory products, and services so residents with health conditions were supported.

BOC managed the supply of these vital products, allowing our Aged Care Partners to focus on the other issues the pandemic presented.

Q: How did your team deliver during the massive spikes?

I’m proud of the work our team did with customers to ensure a balanced and fair delivery program of medical devices. This avoided the need for panic buying.

BOC upscaled production so additional cylinders were available to cover surges and increased medical device stock.

Thankfully Australia limited the virus early and this helped us build capacity to deliver enough medical product for our needs and beyond. This allowed us to supply countries in Asia and the South Pacific in their time of need. BOC was proud to collaborate with humanitarian agencies and sent much needed medical gas and equipment to various parts of our region to help ease the crisis. India, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands all received assistance.

Q: How do you think BOC differs from other suppliers?

BOC is able to manufacture multiple times the medical oxygen consumed nationally on a typical day.

We also have the capacity to store months’ worth of oxygen across the nation, making us the ‘go-to’ company for oxygen supply to hospitals and aged care facilities.

Our operations team and relationship managers closely monitored stock to ensure reliable supply and communicated personally. Our team also engaged with our manufacturing partners globally to ensure order volumes could increase and be delivered.

Q: How did you ensure smooth deliveries of critical medical gas and equipment during the pandemic?

We significantly invested in our rental fleet of medical equipment renewing and extending our range of rental oxygen concentrators, regulators, flowmeters and cylinder handling equipment. BOC ensured stock was in multiple locations across Australia and complemented our extensive transport fleet to deliver where and when needed.

Medical devices were often airfreighted into the country instead of by traditional sea freight. This ensured products were available for customers as soon as possible, even though costs couldn’t be fully recouped.

Q: Was cleaning and hygiene a bigger safety issue?

Safety is always top priority for BOC and we developed special disinfection protocols for rental medical equipment and cylinders to ensure the safety of our customers and staff.

Q: How do you future-proof the supply of medical gases and equipment for unexpected situations?

We are constantly collaborating with aged care and healthcare providers to understand their ongoing needs. That’s the big learning — planning is key and it works.

We are here for you for today, tomorrow and in the future.

For more information:

Website: www.boc.com.au/healthcare

Email: healthcare@boc.com

Phone: 1800 050 999

BOC is a trading name of BOC Limited, a Linde company. © BOC Limited 2022. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Details given in this document are believed to be correct at the time of printing. Whilst proper care has been taken in the preparation, no liability for injury or damage resulting from its improper use can be accepted.