Building a More Resilient Healthcare Supply Chain: 30+ Years of Insights from Baxter 

As healthcare systems face increasing complexity, disruption risk, and demand volatility, collaboration and transparency across the ecosystem have become more critical than ever. 

Alan Mavis, senior director of enterprise corporate accounts at Baxter, brings more than three decades of experience working alongside health systems to strengthen supply continuity and preparedness. In this Q&A, he shares how Baxter's long‑standing commitment to supply chain resiliency – and its active involvement with the Healthcare Industry Resiliency Collaborative (HIRC) – is one example of the company’s patient‑first approach and focus on reliability, transparency and trust.  

Question: What is your role at Baxter and how long have you worked with the company?  

Alan: I’ve been with Baxter for more than three decades because of our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. I often think about the individual patient in a hospital bed and ask myself: What if they were someone you love? I’d want the highest quality product available when and where they needed it. 

This real-world impact of healthcare supply resiliency is something that has consistently motivated me, particularly over the last several years.  

Over my 34 years at Baxter, I've held several commercial leadership roles, including area vice president, regional manager and national sales trainer. Today, I manage executive-level relationships with leading health systems and regional group purchasing organizations, and I am actively involved in groups that advance healthcare collaboration beyond Baxter – including HIRC.  

Q: What is HIRC? 

Alan: HIRC, created in 2019 by a group of health systems and industry partners, is a non‑profit focused on strengthening patient‑centered healthcare supply chain resiliency. Since then, HIRC has grown to include more than 90 health systems, suppliers and industry partners – including Baxter – working together to improve transparency, resiliency and risk management across the healthcare supply chain. 

Q: How long have you been on the HIRC board and why did you join? 

Alan: Baxter got involved with HIRC in 2020, joining the Supplier Advisory Council in recognition of our supply resiliency efforts after Hurricane Maria in 2017. I later joined the HIRC Board of Directors in 2023 and served as a HIRC Officer in 2024 and 2025. 

Q: What does it mean for Baxter to achieve multiple recognitions from HIRC?  

Alan: Healthcare providers are increasingly looking for proof of suppliers' resiliency measures. HIRC's Transparency and Resiliency Badges offer independent, credible ways to provide exactly that by evaluating suppliers based on objective standards and a structured evaluation process. Each badge requires a rigorous application process, significant planning and cross-functional coordination. For the Resiliency assessment alone, which we received in 2025, Baxter participated in a robust four‑month, third‑party, audit‑style review. 

To me, supply chain transparency and resiliency aren't just competitive advantages; they're the right thing to do for patients. While we can't prevent every disruption, we can be prepared. Our ability to reduce shortages, recover faster and respond decisively during disruptions helps build trust with the patients, clinicians and providers who rely on us.  

In fact, in March 2026, Baxter received HIRC's Member Choice Award for Supplier Resiliency, along with recognition in the Member Choice Award for Transparency, honors driven by a high volume of provider nominations. These build on Baxter's HIRC Transparency Badges, which we've earned for four consecutive years in a row. These awards reflect our focus on protecting supply continuity, responding effectively to disruptions and raising the bar for resiliency across the industry, underscoring the trust our customers place in us.  

Q: How do collaborations like HIRC strengthen the healthcare ecosystem overall? 

Alan: Real progress in supply chain resiliency happens through collaboration. By working with providers, payers, manufacturers and policymakers, we’re tackling challenges that no single organization can solve alone.  

What we do at Baxter truly matters – our products support more than 350 million patients worldwide every year.