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Ryder and BJC HealthCare earn NextGen Partnership in Execution Award. The healthcare and logistics partners will share how automation, visibility and a patient-centered supply chain strategy delivered dramatic improvements in service, efficiency and operational resilience. SCMR Staff · August 6, 2026 · Executive takeaways. * Ryder System and BJC HealthCare earned the 2026 NextGen Partnership in Execution Award for demonstrating how a strategic healthcare logistics partnership improved supply chain visibility, automation, inventory management and patient care. * The organizations transformed healthcare supply chain operations by consolidating supplier channels into a centralized, technology-enabled logistics network that increased order fulfillment, reduced costs and strengthened operational resilience. * Patient outcomes - not automation alone - drove the transformation. Advanced warehouse management, end-to-end supply chain visibility and sequenced deliveries helped ensure clinicians had the right medical supplies when and where they were needed. * Attendees at the NextGen Supply Chain Conference will hear directly from Ryder and BJC HealthCare leaders as they share lessons learned, measurable results and best practices for building resilient healthcare supply chains through strategic collaboration. Technology alone rarely transforms a supply chain. Transformation happens when organizations align around a common objective, combine complementary expertise and execute with discipline. That philosophy is embodied by Ryder System, Inc. and BJC HealthCare, recipients of the 2026 NextGen Supply Chain Conference Partnership in Execution Award for redefining how healthcare supply chains can operate when logistics excellence is aligned with patient outcomes. Presented during Thursday morning's general session, the award recognizes partnerships that deliver measurable business value by combining operational innovation, technology and execution. Rather than recognizing either organization individually, the award celebrates how collaboration between partners can achieve results neither could accomplish alone. For Ryder and BJC HealthCare, that collaboration fundamentally changed how medical supplies move through one of the nation's leading healthcare systems. Thys Visser, Vice President of Operations, Healthcare & High Tech for Ryder, and Jason Luby, Vice President, Value Chain Management & Sourcing Operations, for BJC HealthCare, will sit down for a fireside chat on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, to discuss their partnership. All of the 2026 NextGen Supply Chain Conference awards, which include the End User, Solution Provider, Startup, Partnership in Execution, and Visionary, are sponsored by Zion Solutions Group. A new model for healthcare logistics. Like many healthcare organizations, BJC HealthCare historically managed a fragmented supply chain characterized by multiple supplier channels, inconsistent delivery performance and unnecessary manual work performed by clinical staff. Rather than accepting those limitations, BJC partnered with Ryder to rethink the operating model from the ground up. To view the latest agenda, click here Organizations interested in sponsoring the conference, click here Drawing on logistics best practices developed across industries, including automotive and advanced manufacturing, Ryder worked with BJC to design and launch a highly automated 416,000-square-foot Consolidated Services Center (CSC) that now serves as the centralized logistics hub supporting the health system's eastern region. The facility supports 14 hospitals, more than 3,300 licensed beds and approximately 4,600 physicians, consolidating supplier channels into a single scalable operation that improves inventory management, delivery performance and operational consistency across the enterprise. Putting patients at the center of the supply chain. While the project introduced sophisticated automation and advanced logistics technologies, its primary objective was never simply operational efficiency. It was ensuring caregivers always have the supplies they need to care for patients. Ryder engineered highly sequenced deliveries that prioritize the most critical products for immediate availability at hospital loading docks, helping clinicians spend less time searching for supplies and more time caring for patients. Supporting that strategy is an integrated warehouse management system connected with RyderShare, Ryder's proprietary visibility platform, providing end-to-end inventory visibility, demand planning and collaborative issue resolution across the supply chain, even during natural disasters, product shortages and other disruptions. Perhaps most importantly, the partnership transformed BJC's role within its own supply chain. Rather than reacting to shortages and supplier constraints, the health system now has direct sourcing capabilities, complete inventory visibility and real-time cost transparency that enable more proactive decision-making and stronger operational resilience. Results that extend beyond the warehouse. The operational improvements have been substantial. Hospital order fulfillment increased from 90% to more than 99%, while on-time, in-full delivery performance nearly tripled - from 27% to 75%. Order processing costs fell by 80%, inventory-on-hand declined by 25 days, and nursing unit service levels climbed above 98.5%, ensuring clinicians consistently have the supplies needed at the bedside. The operation also achieved 100% inventory control with real-time, end-to-end visibility, giving supply chain leaders unprecedented insight into inventory, demand and system-wide performance.

Aurenar closes oversubscribed $5.7M seed round led by the Go Red for Women Venture Fund(TM) and Solas BioVentures. Jul 28, 2026, 09:00 ET Funding accelerates advancement of first-in-class non-invasive neuromodulation platform to transform the arc of stroke care in ICUs ST. LOUIS, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Aurenar, developer of a non-invasive, single-use neuromodulation platform to reduce life-threatening complications in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, today announced the close of an oversubscribed $5.7 million seed financing round, co-led by the Go Red for Women Venture Fund(TM), part of American Heart Association Ventures(TM)- the American Heart Association's venture capital arm - and Solas BioVentures, with additional participation from BJC Health and Kaleida Capital. Proceeds from the investment round will fund continued advancement toward pivotal trials, including final device development, verification and validation (V&V) testing, and regulatory submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Aurenar's V-Link(TM) platform, which recently received breakthrough device designation from the FDA, delivers transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) to modulate the body's inflammatory response to such conditions as subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). SAH alone accounts for roughly 7% of all strokes worldwide, leaving approximately 40% of survivors with permanent disability. Initially developed to respond to stroke and broader neurocritical-care challenges, V-Link has the potential to expand into additional high-impact indications in critically ill patients. Inflammation is a central driver of the secondary injury that worsens outcomes in stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and other critical illnesses. Modulating this cascade non-invasively in the ICU addresses a significant unmet need - and a meaningful opportunity to change recovery trajectories for many patients experiencing the most acute, high-risk conditions that also increase hospital costs. The company was founded based on research from Dr. Eric Leuthardt, Dr. Anna Huguenard, and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The randomized SAH trial they conducted demonstrated that taVNS reduced moderate-to-severe vasospasm by more than 40%, lowered pro-inflammatory cytokines, and improved functional outcomes. A companion analysis also showed a 20% drop in 30-day modifiable hospitalization costs directly linked to the method. A separate large-vessel occlusion (LVO) ischemic stroke trial showed consistent anti-inflammatory effects and a clean safety profile. V-Link's simple, wireless design makes it easier for neuro-intensive care physicians and ICU nursing staff to use the device without extensive training and supports faster onboarding and clinical adoption. "We are excited to support Aurenar because stroke is a major cause of mortality and long-term disability in women, who face a disproportionately higher prevalence of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Their V-Link product promises to offer a pathway to improve recovery for all patients and especially for women who often experience higher rates of post-stroke complications," said Tracy Warren, Sr. Managing Director, Go Red for Women Venture Fund, part of the American Heart Association Ventures family of funds. "The potential for use with other conditions that trigger the body's inflammatory response, which also disproportionately affect women, makes V-Link the kind of scalable innovation our fund was created to accelerate." "This seed close marks a pivotal moment for Aurenar," said Dr. Leuthardt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aurenar and a professor of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine. "With the support of the Go Red for Women Venture Fund, Solas BioVentures, and our broader investor group, we are positioned to advance from early-stage neurotechnology to a pivotal-trial-ready company. Every dollar of this round is committed to milestones that help us improve outcomes for patients in the most critical moments of their care." "At WashU, we are reinforcing pathways that convert bold scientific ideas into real-world solutions," said Doug Frantz, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Commercialization, Washington University. "This neuromodulation platform is yet another example of the strength of WashU's innovation ecosystem, and Dr. Leuthardt's progress with Aurenar is bringing us closer to delivering meaningful advances to some of our most critically ill patients." About Aurenar Aurenar is a company developing a non-invasive, single-use neuromodulation platform to reduce life-threatening complications in ICU patients. The company's transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) device targets the body's inflammatory response to improve outcomes, lower total cost of care, and transform critical care management. Beginning with the impacts of stroke, Aurenar's platform is positioned to expand to address multiple high-acuity indications. Aurenar is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Learn more at www.aurenar.com. About Go Red Fund and American Heart Association Ventures The Go Red for Women Venture Fund(TM) invests in market-driven solutions across a spectrum of heart health, brain health and related conditions to improve health for women. The Fund invests in early-stage companies whose products and services improve access, diagnosis and treatment for women. Through focused investment that translates science into action, the Go Red Fund is sparking real-world change and making a measurable difference in women's lives. The Go Red Venture Fund is part of American Heart Association Ventures, the venture capital platform of the American Heart Association. About Solas BioVentures Solas BioVentures is a venture capital firm investing in early- and development-stage biopharmaceutical, medical device, and digital health companies. Founded by physicians, scientists, and operators, the firm pairs deep clinical expertise and a patient-centric approach to funding technologies advancing the standard of care. Solas is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a presence in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Learn more at www.solasbio.com. SOURCE Aurenar