A fire on Sunday affected several warehouses in the AlfiBrisas fiscal complex in Desamparados, including facilities belonging to Biotech and NutriMed. These companies are major suppliers of medicines and medical supplies for the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) and the National Insurance Institute (INS).
The incident led the CCSS to activate contingency plans to prevent disruptions in medicine supply and ensure continued healthcare services nationwide.
Esteban Vega de la O, logistics manager at CCSS, described the strategic importance of these suppliers. “These are warehouses of the supplier that serves us on several contract lines with the CCSS, and we know they also provide some medicines to the INS. It is Biotech and NutriMed, from the same economic group, and it is an important supplier because of the lines of medicines they serve us under contracts,” he said.
The affected warehouses stored saline solution in 500 ml and 1,000 ml presentations, as well as medications for diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, general-use drugs, and products for blood sugar control in diabetic patients. The most critical product is saline solution due to its essential role in patient care. Saline is a sterile water-and-salt solution used for rehydration, wound cleaning, disinfection, among other uses.
Vega de la O emphasized that there is currently no immediate risk: “We reiterate that we have sufficient stocks of saline solution and insist publicly that there will be no interruptions in service provision or medicine delivery,” he stated.
If a significant impact on saline supply is confirmed, CCSS may activate internal production as a backup measure. According to Vega de la O, while some inventories were kept at the affected site by the supplier, CCSS has mechanisms to reduce immediate shortage risks. “For all medications we have stock according to cost and demand. We generate additional inventories in our own warehouses to guarantee product availability and operational continuity without any interruption,” he explained.
CCSS will coordinate directly with its supplier to assess losses and determine which deliveries need replacement or rescheduling. “Now, the conversations we have had with the supplier —and tomorrow we will continue— are to understand the level of impact for deliveries over coming weeks and months,” said Vega de la O.“We know firefighters removed some goods but we have already started analyzing our stocks to determine if urgent purchases are needed so inventory isn’t compromised.”
The Logistics Management division at CCSS maintains safety stocks intended to support supply during this assessment period. If necessary, alternative restocking processes may be activated quickly within institutional regulations.
A full evaluation of damage will take place once firefighters finish controlling the blaze and it’s safe to enter damaged structures.
