Sharps Compliance works to expand infrastructure to meet needs

Sharps Compliance Corp., a national provider of medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous waste management solutions, provided an update on its efforts to expand its infrastructure and strengthen its service capabilities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Houston-based company has been in the process of expanding its capacity to support growth across its service and solutions offerings and in anticipation of what is expected to be a strong 2020 flu and immunization season. The company believes that industry efforts to combat the COVID-19 virus could also contribute to higher volumes of mailback and associated regulated medical waste treatment, which are utilized by the company’s retail market customers to collect, transport and treat syringes and other medical waste generated during immunizations.

With this in mind, Sharps Compliance continues to move forward or accelerate the following initiatives:   

• Increasing its production and inventory of medical waste mailback and shipback solutions to ensure it remains well-positioned to meet expected increased customer demand, particularly as it relates to the 2020 flu season and the potential COVID-19 vaccine;
• Completing construction at its Carthage, Texas treatment facility, a project which began in August 2019 and is near completion, adding a new and significantly larger autoclave and increasing the facility footprint to 31,000 square feet;
• Recently ordering a second autoclave for its Pennsylvania facility, which the company expects to be operational in August or September;
• Increasing its medical waste processing capacity from 10 million to 27 million pounds per year (when operating two shifts) with the addition of autoclaves at the Texas and Pennsylvania facilities, and
• Expanding the route-based truck fleet and drivers necessary to facilitate the potential increase in volumes.          

According to the company, all of the above initiatives are underway and are on schedule to be completed to facilitate the needs of the company’s customers and expected demands.

“Our long-term strategy has always been to stay ahead of the curve as it relates to operating infrastructure and treatment capacity to support our growth and consistently meet the needs of our customers,” Sharps President and CEO David Tusa says. “Be it adding to our fleet, extending our geographic reach or upgrading the physical plants and increasing capacity at our treatment facilities, our focus has been on investing in our business to ensure we are always well-positioned to support customer needs.” 

Tusa added, “We are very proud of our leadership position in the retail clinic space where we believe that 40 percent or more of flu and other immunizations are administered. With the route-based business, we also serve long-term care facilities and commercial labs. We see our services as essential in supporting healthcare during the current COVID-19 pandemic, and as such, we are prepared for what could be a very busy 2020 and 2021. Finally, and most importantly, we are focused on the health and safety of our employees, customers and partners as we navigate this new and evolving landscape.”