By Jody Hatcher, CEO, Morris & Dickson

Every day, while most Americans are asleep, thousands of caring people inside distribution centers across the country are moving millions of pharmaceutical products with precision and accuracy, under the exact temperature requirements for each product — verifying, scanning, tracking each one against federal traceability requirements, some destined for climate-controlled storage before they ever reach a shelf. 

Before daybreak, fleets of trucks, vans and airplanes will carry a range of medications thousands of miles to pharmacies and hospitals across the country, getting providers ready to treat someone’s parent, child, sister, brother, spouse or significant other.  

While the patient waiting on a prescription and the care team preparing to administer a dose will never see those efforts, this often–overlooked expertise helps make reliable, timely care possible. When I had the privilege of joining the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) Executive Committee in 2021 and then stepping into the role of Board Chairman in 2024, I did so with a deep appreciation for the people and organizations that make this possible.  

HDA represents a sophisticated network of pharmaceutical distributors that serve pharmacies, providers, manufacturers, and patients across the country. While HDA’s work most often happens behind the scenes, it is vital to the role of pharmaceutical distribution. The Alliance’s policy, advocacy and industry leadership has helped distributors and other stakeholders navigate a complex, ever-changing landscape so that patients and providers can have confidence in knowing medicines and healthcare products will be available when they need them. During my tenure with the HDA Board, we focused on engagement as well as the implementation of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). Engagement across multiple fronts matters because this network only works when distributors, manufacturers, pharmacies and other supply chain stakeholders align around a purpose, while also assuring this critical role in the supply chain is understood in Washington, DC, and at the state level. Our industry is strongest when distributors have a seat at the table and bring their expertise to the policymakers and partners who shape the environment around us, and HDA has been instrumental in making this happen. HDA has provided a common platform and unified approach to legislators and has also joined us with other stakeholders across the supply chain in core forums to discuss the future of supply resiliency.  

Implementation is also imperative, as evidenced by the DSCSA, which requires the sustained attention of every link in the supply chain. Again, HDA played a pivotal role in uniting distributors and the FDA to focus on core milestones and critical barriers as organizations worked to achieve mandated deadlines. 

And we must keep telling our story. Healthcare distributors connect more than a thousand manufacturers with hundreds of thousands of pharmacies, providers and sites of care, using technology, logistics expertise and personal service to maintain product integrity and support access. That value deserves to be better understood outside our own industry because patients and communities feel it every day. HDA has played a key role in amplifying the importance of distribution through its members, through the media and through social platforms.  

As an industry, we have endured drug shortages, tariffs, 340B uncertainty, cybersecurity challenges, reimbursement issues and the evolving legislative environment. These challenges are a reminder that the distributor perspective is not optional, it is essential. We must continue to work as one to ensure decisions made by legislators and other stakeholders translate into the daily realities of receiving, storing, picking, packing and delivering critical healthcare products. 

I am especially grateful to the HDA team, the Board of Directors, our Executive Committee, member companies and trading partners for the work we have done collectively. HDA is comprised of companies that compete with each other every day, yet they set those differences aside to protect the value of our shared industry. 

I want to recognize Debbie Weitzman of Cardinal Health for her leadership as she steps into the role of Chair of the HDA Board and Rick Seip of Value Drug as he also steps into the vice chair role.  The progress of this Alliance is never the result of one individual; it is the result of committed people showing up, asking hard questions and staying focused on the shared mission of serving patients. 

The work ahead is even more important than the work behind us.  

For me, that means continuing to support HDA as a Board member and executive committee member while staying engaged in the conversations that matter most to our HDA members, trading partners and the pharmacies and hospitals we serve. At Morris & Dickson, our mission of putting pharmacies and patients first aligns closely with that broader purpose, and we have an obligation to help build a stronger, safer, more resilient supply chain. 

To the HDA membership and everyone across healthcare distribution: thank you. This industry is at its best when it works together, tells its story clearly, and keeps patients at the center. I look forward to our collective next chapter.