Powering Up
Bolivia’s LAPTOP scholar Grace Delgado explains how her supply chain credentials will empower her to fix broken healthcare supply chains in Bolivia.
Although Grace Delgado is a powerhouse of activity and accomplishments, she admits to times when she feels powerless. This biochemist and pharmacist is a mother of two teenage boys — 14 and 15 — and has more than 15 years of professional experience under her belt. She is the National Pharmacy Manager for CIES, the country’s largest non-profit organization providing sexual and reproductive health services and oversees the main pharmacy in Bolivia’s largest city La Paz and six other pharmacies in the rest of Bolivia’s departments.
“But when I see patients in health centers, public or private hospitals who are unable to access a medicine they need, or when I watch warehouses destroy expired medicines that could have helped so many people, I feel completely helpless,” she admits. The lack of a competent, professionally trained supply chain manager can make the difference between health and sickness, or even death, she says.
Seeking to increase her knowledge and competency in supply chain management, Grace applied for a LAPTOP scholarship, which she won. She opted to study techniques for managing and measuring the performance of supply chains by using the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. The course is provided by E2E Supply Chain Management (ASCM) and will afford her well-respected supply chain credentials. Bolivia’s public healthcare supply chains are not always managed efficiently, she says: inventories are not checked appropriately, needs are not quantified accurately, and products don’t move quickly, making for expired stocks.
As a biochemist and pharmacist, Grace accepts her mission is to serve patients and dispense medicines. But, in addition, she has always been drawn to the intricacies of good supply chain management: “I’ve always loved to be involved in verifying expiry dates of medicines; monitoring their prices; overseeing modes of storage; checking inventory; and increasing the efficiency of procurement. I have a passion for the impeccable management of these functions and have read many publications and books in supply chain, educating myself on my own. But I really needed to be accredited as a supply chain professional apart from being a in addition to my role as a pharmacist, and this scholarship is where it starts for me.
Although CIES, where Grace works, has an excellent record in gender equity and offers excellent professional opportunities to female personnel, Grace is candid about the challenges female logisticians face in general. In most workplaces, women aren’t always offered the same professional and academic opportunities as men; neither are they able to prove their worth. This has made her appreciate all the more her LAPTOP scholarship, and the RHSC’s commitment to supporting women in supply chain management. “It is a valuable opportunity that will help me become a better logistician by learning about managing people, planning, procedures, procurement, and storage. This opportunity opens so many doors to improve procedures and services to benefit the people of Bolivia.”
Mindset is crucial, Grace adds. If supply chain managers could just see the inextricable link between strong supply chains and good health, they would apply themselves more and take their responsibilities more seriously, she says.
