Medline, Mohawk Medbuy to Fortify Ontario Hospital Supply Chain

MISSISSAUGA, ON – April 02, 2026 – In a strategic move designed to bolster the provincial healthcare system, Medline Canada is partnering with Mohawk Medbuy (MMC) to expand critical warehousing and logistics services for hospitals across Southwestern Ontario. The collaboration aims to enhance supply chain resiliency, improve service reliability, and generate significant cost efficiencies for a region that has voiced a clear need for more robust support.

This new agreement will leverage Medline Canada’s extensive logistics network to serve a group of hospitals west of London, including major institutions like London Health Sciences Centre, Windsor Regional Hospital, Bluewater Health, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, and Erie Shores Healthcare. The partnership is a direct response to calls from these organizations for a more dependable supply pipeline.

"We're very pleased to be partnering with MMC to support the expansion of service to their Member hospitals in Southwestern Ontario," said Ernie Philip, President of Medline Canada and Latin America. "Our collective supply chain expertise, capabilities and resources will enable us to provide service excellence and cost efficiencies that are so important to the health care sector. This is how we make healthcare run better."

For Mohawk Medbuy, a national not-for-profit shared services organization, the alliance represents a crucial step in its provincial expansion plan, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring a steady flow of medical supplies to its members.

"Dependable supply chain services are a critical component of our Members' ability to deliver sustainable, quality care to their patients," stated Tony DiEmanuele, MMC President and CEO. "In response to Member requests for MMC to offer this service London westward, this expansion aligns with our multi warehouse expansion plan for the province to provide that surety of supply."

Addressing a Critical Need in the Southwest

The timing of this partnership is critical. Hospitals in Southwestern Ontario have been navigating a challenging environment marked by supply chain volatility and rising costs. Recent reports have highlighted significant financial pressures on the region's healthcare providers. For instance, Windsor Regional Hospital has faced multimillion-dollar deficits, partially attributed to inflationary cost increases on essential supplies and the lingering impact of cross-border tariffs.

These macroeconomic pressures are compounded by specific product shortages that can directly impact patient care. In recent years, healthcare providers have had to contend with global shortages of critical items like epidural supplies, forcing hospitals to monitor inventory levels closely and prepare contingency plans. Such vulnerabilities underscore the fragility of a just-in-time system when faced with global disruptions, making a resilient, localized logistics network more important than ever.

By creating a more robust and responsive supply chain, the Medline-MMC partnership aims to mitigate these risks. The goal is to create a buffer against future disruptions, ensuring that the frontline of healthcare has consistent and timely access to the more than 50,000 medical-surgical products Medline manages, from basic supplies to specialized surgical instruments.

A Strategic Play for Efficiency and Economic Health

Beyond resilience, the collaboration is engineered to drive significant operational and financial efficiencies. Mohawk Medbuy operates on a unique not-for-profit model, acting as a shared services and group purchasing organization for hundreds of healthcare providers across Canada. By aggregating the purchasing power of its members, MMC negotiates value-driven contracts for everything from medical supplies to pharmaceuticals, managing over $3 billion in spending. Any savings generated are then reinvested back into the healthcare system and the providers it serves.

This partnership plugs Medline’s formidable logistics capabilities directly into that value-driven ecosystem. The cornerstone of the operation will be Medline’s 600,000-square-foot, LEED® certified distribution centre in Guelph, Ontario. This state-of-the-art facility provides the scale and sophistication necessary to manage a complex healthcare supply chain effectively, offering advanced demand planning, warehousing, and just-in-time distribution.

By centralizing logistics through this hub, hospitals can expect to see improvements in service levels, inventory optimization, and ultimately, cost reduction. For a public healthcare system continually seeking ways to maximize the value of every dollar, these efficiencies are not just line items on a budget but represent a tangible investment in patient care.

Solidifying Leadership in a Competitive Market

The agreement also represents a significant strategic maneuver within Canada's highly competitive healthcare logistics market. The sector, valued at over USD 2.25 billion in 2023, is projected to more than double by 2033, fueled by increasing demand for sophisticated solutions to manage the delivery of medical products and devices.

In this dynamic landscape, Medline Canada, along with other major players like McKesson Canada and Cardinal Health Canada, are vying to become the integrated supply chain partners of choice for the nation's healthcare system. This partnership solidifies Medline's footprint in Ontario, one of the country's largest healthcare markets. Medline’s proven track record, which includes achieving a consistent 98% on-time delivery performance through strategic carrier partnerships and being recognized for supply chain excellence, was a key factor in its selection.

The decision to award the contract to Medline followed what MMC described as a "rigorous, competitive RFP process" initiated in the fall of 2025. This process is governed by MMC’s strict adherence to public procurement regulations, including Canadian and international free trade agreements and the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. These rules mandate an open, fair, and transparent process, ensuring the chosen partner demonstrates the highest capacity for delivering value and operational excellence.

With implementation planning already underway, the transition of services to the Guelph distribution centre is slated to begin this fall. The partnership between Medline's logistical prowess and MMC's procurement expertise is set to create a new benchmark for healthcare supply chain management in the province, a development that will be watched closely by hospitals and competitors alike.