CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—The global pandemic caused companies to redirect resources to deal with the immediate threat of COVID-19.
But dealing with the coronavirus also helped spur creativity that will lead to future improvements, according to one research and development leader at Becton, Dickinson and Co., a medical products and technology company.
"If we look at the last 12 to 18 months, the pandemic has really fundamentally changed the future of health care in this nation," Jim Semler said May 5 during his keynote presentation as part of the Healthcare Elastomers Conference organized by Rubber & Plastics News.
"COVID-19 fundamentally changed business," said Semler, R&D director of the Materials Science and Engineering Center of Excellence in the Medication Delivery Solutions business unit at BD.
Drastic changes happened quickly during the early stages of COVID-19 as health care workers struggled to figure out how to limit virus transmission while still tending to patients. The lack of personal protective equipment early on also caused medical workers to alter their typical approaches in an effort to remain safe.
"The implication to material sets was huge from that perspective," he said during the virtual conference.