How Distributors Drive Local Economic Growth and Power the Supply Chain
HDA-member pharmaceutical distributors provide the essential supply chain infrastructure to support the healthcare needs of communities across America — connecting more than 1,400 manufacturers with over 450,000 sites where patients receive care. As new distribution centers open across the country, this network is growing stronger and more innovative, expanding both patient access to critical therapies and the capacity to meet rising demand across the healthcare system.
Behind this impressive network is a workforce of hundreds of thousands of skilled professionals whose expertise supports and directly powers our healthcare system to run safely and efficiently. These new facilities, and the people within them, not only bolster the resilience of the supply chain but also generate meaningful economic growth for the communities they serve, creating high-quality jobs and driving local investment.
Strengthening Local Communities and Economies
Healthcare distributors bolster the U.S. economy through the workers they employ, the jobs and economic activity they support and the ways they support their communities. Here’s a snapshot of the industry’s economic contributions:
- Job creation: ~340,000 jobs (nearly 60,000 directly and 279,000 indirectly) supported by the industry nationwide, providing specialized, high-quality roles essential to the healthcare supply chain.
- Economic impact: $32.8 billion generated in annual wages, offering well-paying careers in logistics, technology and supply chain management, and $62.6 billion contributed to GDP, driving long-term economic growth.
- Community benefit: Distribution facilities often serve as anchor employers in smaller towns, expanding opportunities and strengthening local economies while ensuring essential medicines reach patients wherever they live.
Investing in American Infrastructure
Beyond the industry’s current economic footprint, distributors are also investing for the future — building modern facilities and leveraging new technologies to strengthen the nation’s healthcare infrastructure. HDA members are creating new distribution facilities designed to expand capacity, improve reliability and enhance patient access. These investments underscore how the industry continues to modernize to meet the needs of a changing healthcare landscape.
Cencora’s new distribution center in Harrison, Ohio, will expand access to essential medicines while delivering long-term economic benefits to the region. The facility will add 140 high-paying jobs and generate more than $140 million in payroll. This new facility is part of Cencora’s broader commitment to bolster and expand its pharmaceutical distribution network across the country, with plans to invest $1 billion through 2030. “This investment underscores our commitment to and role in building a resilient pharmaceutical supply chain and in ensuring patients across the United States have timely and reliable access to prescribed medications, where and when they need them,” said Bob Mauch, President and CEO of Cencora.
Morris & Dickson is preparing to open a second distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi (just outside of Memphis, Tennessee). This 97,200-square-foot facility will support its rapidly growing specialty business, as well as secondary distribution and 3PL services. (Specialty pharmaceuticals continue to experience significant growth, accounting for 46 percent of 2024 global pharmaceutical sales, a 12 percent increase from the year prior.) “We’re thrilled to add the vibrant city of Memphis into Morris & Dickson’s rich culture,” said Jason Hanks, Chief Commercial Officer. “As we expand our services across the country, Memphis is the ideal location for our second base of operations to support the needs of our trade partners and customers.”
R&S Northeast recently opened a new hub in Glasgow, Kentucky, that supports the pharmaceutical supply chain while providing stable, specialized employment opportunities for the community. “With this new hub, we’re not only expanding capacity but also supporting the pharmaceutical industry’s mission to improve patient lives through dependable access to essential medications,” said Karol Ann Sharp, President of R&S Northeast.
Cardinal Health is growing its network and enhancing its distribution centers to further expand and modernize its national pharmaceutical distribution network. Recently, the company opened its Consumer Health Logistics Center in Columbus, Ohio, a first-of-its-kind facility designed to meet growing demand for consumer health products, and announced plans for a new flagship forward distribution center in Indianapolis, Indiana featuring an industry-first robotic storage and retrieval system and advanced automation technology. A new distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas, and one to break ground this fiscal year in Sacramento, California, for the company’s at-Home Solutions business are leveraging state-of-the-art robotics and automatic technologies to efficiently bring medical supplies directly to people managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes or incontinence. As Jamie Deist, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain for at-Home Solutions, explained, “Investing in our supply chain is not a ‘nice to have’ — it’s a must have. We’ve been intentional as we design the supply chain of the future, selecting technologies that enhance our ability to get supplies to patients more quickly and efficiently.”
McKesson has made strides in modernizing and accelerating operations to enhance access to critical healthcare products, including the development of a dedicated 12,000-square-foot cold chain space for cell-and-gene therapies within its distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky, and the opening of a highly automated distribution facility in Columbus, Ohio. Across its network, McKesson has doubled cold chain capacity year-over-year to meet the growing demand for complex therapies and continues to invest in technology, automation, and AI to create a smarter, more efficient supply chain. “McKesson is focused on being part of the solution to modernize and build a resilient supply chain,” said Christopher Van Norman, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations. “We’re investing in the infrastructure, security and scale of our supply chain — enabling us to deliver critical supplies and medications to the patients who are counting on them.”
Bolstering America’s Healthcare Infrastructure
The scale of investment across the healthcare distribution sector reflects the industry’s dual mission: ensuring reliable, equitable access to medicines while driving economic growth and opportunity in communities nationwide.
Healthcare distribution is about far more than moving products — it’s about making care possible. Behind every delivery is a network of people, technology and infrastructure working tirelessly to ensure that patients across the United States can access the treatments they need, when they need them.
To learn more about the critical role healthcare distributors play in America’s supply chain, visit https://www.hda.org/health-delivered/.