AHA, Jones Day meeting examines human trafficking in health care supply chain

The AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence initiative, Jones Day and HEAL Trafficking (Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage) today held a special convening, Forced Labor in Health Care Supply Chains: What Hospital Leaders Need to Know to provide practical information and resources to health care providers. The meeting featured experts from the departments of Health and Human Services and State and the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management, a first-hand account from a trafficking survivor and a case study showing how hospital systems and supply chain leaders can collaborate to address forced labor in procurement processes.

“Hospitals hold unique positions in the communities they serve, and they already play a substantial role in combatting human trafficking,” said Bethany Biesenthal, a Jones Day partner and advisory board member of the Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center. “Letting health care leaders know how hospital supply chains are sometimes infiltrated by labor trafficking and how they can help prevent these actions is an important step in our continuing efforts to eliminate this scourge that crosses borders and industries.”