It's been about three months since Hurricane Helene pummeled the mountains of North Carolina,

but the effects are still being felt well beyond the storm's path.

Ali Rogan explains.

Whether you're dehydrated, undergoing surgery, or receiving medicine intravenously,

IV fluid is a staple in modern healthcare.

But this past September, the nation's supply of those

critical fluids took a massive hit. That's when Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina and flooded

a manufacturing site owned by the Baxter Medical Technology Company. That one plant produces about

60% of the country's IV fluid. Suddenly, many hospitals felt the squeeze and were forced to delay some surgeries.

It caused administrators to start to rethink how they use and conserve this valuable commodity.

Jackie Fortier is a reporting fellow at KFF Health News and has been tracking this story.

Jackie, thank you so much for joining us.

Take us back to the moment when the hurricane hit. Was this impact felt immediately by hospitals who receive this company's

IV fluids? Absolutely. I mean, Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina in late September,

as you said, flooding the largest IV fluid factory in the U.S. And I think everyone was surprised

that that Baxter facility, you know, produced 60% of the nation's supply of IV fluids. You know,

the medical folks that I talked to were all very surprised. They didn't know. So that factory shut

down and the company began rationing its products because it was flooded. And that caused a

shortage of IV fluid products, you know, throughout the health care facilities across the U.S.

That's continuing. It's been two months since that time. I know that the facility has reopened,

but is it back to full production yet? No, no. The North Carolina Baxter factory is now making some IV fluid products,

but the company hasn't announced a date when they'll be back to those, you know, pre-Hurricane production

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