FRANKFURT, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Germany's Fresenius

said it was checking options to speed up the start of

new production lines of medical equipment at a North Carolina

facility to help mitigate potential shortages from hurricane

damage to rival Baxter's site in the same state.

"We are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's

Drug Shortage Staff, which is actively engaged with Baxter and

other manufacturers" to assess whether and by how much capacity

has to be increased, Fresenius said in a statement.

The Germany-based healthcare group said its generic hospital

drugs unit Fresenius Kabi had recently started manufacturing

intravenous (IV) solutions at a new facility in Wilson, North

Carolina, and that it was checking options to start up more

production lines faster than planned in the unaffected location.

"Such a ramp-up of U.S. production at our Wilson site would

take several months and would not be sufficient to make up for a

prolonged loss of production by Baxter," the German company

added.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar on Tuesday urged the Department

of Health and Human Services to address the shortage "as quickly

and safely as possible" and coordinate with the Federal Trade

Commission and Department of Justice to prevent the distribution

of counterfeit IV solutions.

Hurricane Helene slammed into the Florida Gulf coast in late

September, ripping up roads, tossing homes about and severing

lines of communication through southeastern U.S. states. In its

wake, hundreds of people were unaccounted for and many confirmed

dead.

On Sept. 29, medical device maker Baxter said its North Cove

site had been affected by hurricane-related flooding and was

closed for production. It said it was working with the

government to assess the damage and bring the plant back online

as quickly as possible.

Baxter said in a statement on Monday it was working with

government agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration, on special importation requirements for certain

sites and products located outside the United States.

"We have moved finished goods from our North Cove site that

were not impacted by the storm and are inspecting other finished

goods onsite. This inventory will be used to support current

allocations in the short term," Baxter said.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Christy

Santhosh and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru;

Writing by Friederike Heine

Editing by Madeline Chambers and Devika Syamnath)