Current travel advisories for UCSF travelers.
Join us for the second annual Supplier Connections Expo at Staff Resource Days (SRD) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, in the Fischer Banquet Room of the Mission Bay Conference Center at William J. Rutter Center (1675 Owens St.). Hosted by Anchor Institution Mission Procurement, this event is designed to foster connections and explore new opportunities with certified small and local businesses. Network face-to-face with BearBuy suppliers and sample food from local caterers.We will hold a raffle every hour for participants who complete our pamphlet activity by stopping by all featured exhibitor tables. Winners will be announced at the end of each hour and must be present to win prizes. (Raffle Times: 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.)Register for the Supplier Connections Expo at SRD today!Staff Resource Days connects staff to UCSF and partner resources that support community, wellness, and professional development. Learn more at the SRD website and Event Calendar.Want to be a volunteer? Please email Marliz Copado for more information.
Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. has officially changed its name to Nippon Sanso Matheson, Inc. (NSM). What This Means:Existing supplier relationships and services will continue without interruption.Current contracts, pricing agreements, and account contacts remain unchanged.Future invoices, purchase orders, shipping documents, and correspondence may now refer to Nippon Sanso Matheson, Inc. (NSM). If you have any questions, please contact the SCM Response Team.
Justin Check-in | Juneteenth | Supplier Connections Expo | AIDS Walk 2026 | Accessibility | Measles Documentation | Employee Discounts | Celebrate | Kudos
June Calendar and Commemorations | Memorial Day | Supplier Expo | Gallup First Look | Administrative Updates | Digital Accessibility Office Hours | Fraud Webinar | Oracle Celebrate | Kudos
Supply Chain Management (SCM) provides essential payment services to the UCSF community—sometimes within an hour. On Friday, April 24, Justin Sullivan, Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) Chief Procurement Officer, received an order at 3:20 p.m. from Facilities to procure blue exterior lighting for the Parnassus Heights and Mission Bay campuses. The goal was to set up a tribute honoring late Michael Tilson Thomas, former San Francisco Symphony music director and music director laureate. SCM Strategic Procurement was tasked with completing the urgent order. “Time was of the essence to ensure the kind gesture was relevant and meaningful,” said Andrew Clark, Strategic Procurement Executive Director. Strategic Procurement Supervisor Rosemarie Hughes and Senior Buyer Yvette Shaw worked to complete the transaction within 10 minutes of receiving the order. The prompt, critical endeavor worked with Justin and Cesar Sanchez, AVC Facilities Services, providing final approval at 3:51 p.m. Ending with Yvette confirming payment by 4:15 p.m. Chancellor Sam Hawgood noted his gratitude in the collaborative effort to honor the late music director. “It was truly impressive to see how everyone came together so seamlessly to bring this tribute to life. The innovative ideas and collaborative spirit that shaped the final product reflect the best of what our UCSF community stands for.As part of a city-wide recognition of a leader whose impact helped shape San Francisco’s cultural life, this tribute highlighted the creativity and community that continue to define our shared values. Together, you demonstrated once again how the UCSF community rises to the occasion to make extraordinary things happen.” – Sam Hawgood, Chancellor, University of California San Francisco
When news broke that the Strait of Hormuz closed amid escalating conflict between the US and Iran, most headlines focused on oil. But for research institutions like UCSF, helium quickly became top of mind. Liquefied helium is essential to modern medicine and science as a coolant for MRI systems and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instruments. Without it, key diagnostic and research capabilities would be significantly constrained.Why the Strait of Hormuz MattersDean Shehu, Senior Category Manager for UCSF Supply Chain Management’s (SCM) Strategic Procurement, noted that one third of the world’s helium comes from Qatar. With the Strait closed, a major global supply route is effectively disrupted. If the closure persists for months, the effects are expected to ripple across industries, including healthcare and research.UCSF’s Supply PositionUCSF enters this situation significantly better prepared than in past helium supply disruptions. A key reason is the institution’s investment in sustainability and efficiency, particularly helium recycling systems. These systems have dramatically reduced consumption. UCSF now uses approximately 1,372 liters of liquid helium per year, down from more than 18,000 liters annually. This reduction not only supports financial and environmental sustainability goals but also provides strong resilience during supply disruptions. Early Coordination and Scenario PlanningWithin minutes of the Strait of Hormuz closure becoming public, internal coordination was already underway between Dean and NMR Core Director, Professor Mark Kelly, via email , emphasizing the importance of helium supply at UCSF. Since then, SCM has taken several coordinated steps, including reaching out to suppliers to assess exposure to helium from Qatar, communicating updates across all UCSF NMR system stakeholders, and gathering data from labs on annual helium consumption and upcoming fill schedules. Professor Kelly has stocked excess gaseous helium, which can be converted to liquid if needed, providing three months of supply. UCSF’s precautions bode well for proactively addressing supply vulnerabilities. Dean mentioned that he would become involved in daily coordination with suppliers to secure more helium.Waiting on Global Events to UnfoldThe closure of the Strait of Hormuz highlights how global events affect specialized areas of healthcare and research. If helium supply remains constrained, UCSF is prepared to actively manage resources. Dean explained, “If the closure continues for months, I’ll need to coordinate incoming supplies among the labs.”
Mobile phones are a routine part of work across UCSF, but how they are managed can have a significant impact on cost, efficiency, and visibility at scale.Through a data-driven spend analysis conducted as part of SCM’s Strategic Sourcing Portfolio Reviews, the IT Category Management Team identified mobile services as a key category with significant opportunity for improvement. In response, IT Category Manager Jose Padilla conducted a comprehensive review of UCSF’s wireless environment and partnered with Associate CIO Susan Tincher and cross-functional Campus and Health stakeholders to take targeted action. These efforts reduced costs by over $1.4 million annually and improved visibility into mobile phone usage across UCSF, generating meaningful savings over time while enhancing transparency.Historically, mobile services at UCSF have been managed in a decentralized way, with purchasing, billing, and account management spread across departments. This approach has limited visibility into total spend, usage, and pricing consistency across both Campus and Health operations. One of the first steps of the review involved analyzing usage data across accounts, which revealed approximately 1,400 unused phone lines. These lines were subsequently disconnected, eliminating unnecessary recurring costs and improving overall efficiency.In parallel, Sourcing and IT engaged with wireless carriers to strengthen UCSF’s pricing position and improve rate competitiveness. The existing agreement with AT&T has been optimized, capturing a 20 percent discount over previous rates, and recent discussions with Verizon have shown promising progress toward more competitive rate structures.Strategic Sourcing’s work in this category highlights the value of combining data-driven insights with cross-campus collaboration to deliver measurable results and underscores a broader opportunity for work to centralize procurement and account management, streamline processes and local policy, and improve governance to better support Campus and Health.
MyMarketplace will serve as a single-entry point for all catalog and contracted purchases, simplifying how campus users shop.
The Finance Administrative Team provides support to all SCM employees. The administrative officers are your go-to resource for supplies, workspace issues, arranging events and activities, and all other needs outside your job tasks.
