EMERGING STRONGER
2 years after Helene, Baxter plant in North Cove looks back at recovery
On the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Baxter Healthcare's massive North Cove plant looked back at how the site has recovered and evolved since the massive storm. These are two employees featured in a video made by Baxter.
For more than 52 years, Baxter has been a big part of the North Cove community of McDowell County. The 1.4-million-square-foot plant is the largest manufacturer of intravenous (IV) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions in the United States and is Baxter's largest manufacturing facility in the world.
This photo shows some of the flooding caused by Helene inside the Baxter healthcare plant in North cove.
This photo shows the outside of the Baxter healthcare plant in North cove following the destruction caused by hurricane Helene.
The first 1,000 employees were welcomed back to the site on Oct. 14, 2024, and the plant completed a deep cleaning for production rooms within the plant on Oct. 19.
The Baxter healthcare plant in North cove currently has more than 2,500 employees and they live in Mcdowell and surrounding counties. More than 1 million IV solutions are produced at this plant every day.
When hurricane Helene hit, the interior of the huge plant was flooded, and many employees were displaced from their homes.
On the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Baxter Healthcare's massive North Cove plant looked back at how the site has recovered and evolved since the massive storm.
The plant in the North Cove community of McDowell County was significantly impacted by the rain and storm surge from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024, which was unprecedented in western North Carolina and resulted in water flooding the facility and destroying a vital bridge.
"Supporting our employees in the impacted communities, bringing the North Cove facility back online and helping to ensure ongoing supply to patients were our top priorities. We invested more than 2.5 million hours in recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene," reads a statement from Baxter.
For more than 52 years, Baxter has been a big part of the North Cove community of McDowell County. The 1.4-million-square-foot plant is the largest manufacturer of intravenous (IV) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions in the United States and is Baxter's largest manufacturing facility in the world.
It currently has more than 2,000 employees and they live in McDowell and surrounding counties. More than 1 million IV solutions are produced at this plant every day.
Baxter has invested more than $500 million into this plant since 2017, according to information from Baxter.
But Helene threatened to undo all of that. Two years ago on Sept. 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina and significantly impacted areas of McDowell County due to the rain and storm surge. When the massive storm hit, the interior of the huge plant was flooded, and many employees were displaced from their homes. The damage included the destruction of a primary bridge over the North Fork of the Catawba River, adjacent to the Baxter Healthcare site, which connects the facility to U.S. 221 North. The destruction of that bridge on Pitts Station Road left the plant complex cut off from the vital highway. Employees could not access the plant, and the products could not be shipped out once the plant could start operating again.
In addition, people who lived in the North Cove community behind the Baxter plant were also cut off from U.S. 221 South.
The production at the massive sterile plant came to an abrupt halt. Surgeries all over the nation had to be postponed as hospitals were confronted with critical shortages of IV solution bags, according to previous stories by The McDowell News.
Furthermore, Baxter employs more than 2,000 workers who live in McDowell and surrounding counties. Their jobs and lives became upended because of the lack of access to the vital plant.
During the week of Sept. 29, 2024, Baxter established an employee support center on U.S. 221 North in the Woodlawn community.
The first 1,000 employees were welcomed back to the site on Oct. 14, 2024, and the plant completed a deep cleaning for production rooms within the plant on Oct. 19.
After the installation of two temporary metal bridges, the plant restarted the first high-throughput IV solutions manufacturing line during the week of Oct. 28, 2024, and then restarted the second high-throughput IV solutions manufacturing line during the week of Nov. 11. And in late November 2024, the first products made after Hurricane Helene were shipped out, according to a previous story by The McDowell News.
During the week of Jan. 27, 2025, all manufacturing lines were restarted and by February 2025, all pre-hurricane production capacity was restored.
In October 2025, the N.C. Department of Transportation completed a new permanent bridge to replace the one that was destroyed in 2024. It is bigger, stronger and more resilient than the old one destroyed by Helene, according to State Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson.
A video on YouTube depicts the plant's recovery from Helene: https://youtu.be/wJB ZqS7VkeY?si=TQy0mbSS snWcW3rs
Looking back at the past two years, North Cove Plant Director Dante Besseghini said, "Two years after Hurricane Helene, North Cove's recovery stands as a powerful example of resilience, determination and teamwork."
Baxter's leaders said the company has made significant investments to help strengthen the site's longterm resilience to support the U.S. healthcare system, including upgrades to the levee system and other infrastructure across the facility.
"As the nation's largest manufacturers of IV solutions, producing more than one million IV solutions each day for patients across the United States, North Cove plays a critical role in healthcare," Besseghini said. "In the face of unprecedented challenges, our employees came together to overcome obstacles, restore operations and continue fulfilling that responsibility. Their dedication, perseverance and commitment to patients are the reasons North Cove emerged stronger. Over the past two years, we've not only recovered, but also invested in strengthening and fortifying our site to help withstand future disruptions, ensuring we can continue serving patients, healthcare providers and communities when they need us most." For more than 50 years, the facility has been an important part of western North Carolina, providing jobs for more than 2,000 employees and supporting generations of local families. Following Hurricane Helene, employees played a critical role in rebuilding operations and restoring production of the products hospitals and patients rely on every day. Today, Baxter's North Cove facility again produces more than 1 million IV solutions daily, making it a vital part of both the local community and the nation's healthcare supply chain, according to information from Baxter.
