Sharps Compliance Corp., a leading full-service national provider of comprehensive waste management solutions including medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous, is providing an update on its continuing efforts to expand its infrastructure and strengthen its service capabilities, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Company has been in the process of expanding its capacity to support growth across its service and solution offerings and also 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 our Retail market customers to collect, transport and treat syringes and other medical waste generated during immunizations. With that in mind the Company continues to move forward, and in some cases 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 seasonal flu season and the potential COVID-19 vaccine;
- Completing construction at the 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 the August – September 2020 timeframe;
- Increasing its medical waste processing capacity from 10 million to 27 million pounds per year (when operating 2 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
All of the above initiatives are well underway and are on schedule to be completed to facilitate the needs of the Company’s customers and expected demands.
David P. Tusa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sharps, stated, “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. 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% 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.”