MANSFIELD, Mass.--()--Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced an additional $1 million in-kind contribution to non-profit Partners In Health (PIH) to provide medical supplies for a new, state-of-the-art hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti, that is scheduled to open this year.
Covidien and its employees previously donated more than $2.5 million in cash to PIH following the January 2010 earthquake that ravaged Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people and destroying most of the island nation’s healthcare infrastructure. This initial Covidien donation helped fund construction of Mirebalais’ new public hospital and medical training center.
“As reports about the devastating earthquake in Haiti started to spread around the world, Covidien employees mobilized to help those in need. In the quake’s immediate aftermath, Covidien donated truckloads of products to help the injured, but we also wanted to make a long-term impact through our grant to fund construction of a new public hospital,” said José E. Almeida, President and Chief Executive Officer.
In addition to the human suffering, the 2010 earthquake devastated an already weak health system in Haiti. The majority of health facilities in and around its capital city of Port-au-Prince – including Haiti’s only public teaching hospital and nursing school – were badly damaged or destroyed. And many of the country’s young medical and nursing students tragically lost their lives.
Mirebalais Hospital will be the largest public teaching hospital in Haiti outside the capital and will offer services unavailable anywhere else in the country. At a time when Haiti desperately needs skilled medical professionals, Mirebalais Hospital also will provide high-quality education for the next generation of Haitian nurses, medical students and physicians.
The cumulative $3.5 million donation to PIH, a Boston-based international medical organization, is the largest gift ever awarded to any single project by the Covidien Partnership for Neighborhood Wellness, a philanthropic program created by Covidien to help improve access to quality, affordable healthcare around the world.
"Thanks to Covidien's support, Partners In Health and the Haitian Ministry of Health and Population are nearing completion of a first-class 320-bed teaching hospital in the middle of rural Haiti,” said Dr. Paul Farmer, PIH co-founder. “We're especially grateful that, in addition to helping us get the hospital up and running, Covidien has offered to provide key medical supplies for years to come. It's long-term partnerships like this that can help Haiti build back better."
“Mirebalais Hospital will save the lives of many, and improve the health and well-being of many more. We are very proud to support the efforts of Partners In Health to bring modern medicine to those who are in great need,” added Almeida.
ABOUT COVIDIEN
Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of industry-leading product lines in three segments: Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies. With 2011 revenue of $11.6 billion, Covidien has 41,000 employees worldwide in more than 65 countries, and its products are sold in over 140 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business.