22-Oct-2024

How Stryker improves access to healthcare globally

Dr. Clovis Baramburiye performs surgery while surgical residents observe in Rwanda, Africa

Stryker is committed to improving patient outcomes by increasing access to safe and affordable healthcare globally while providing support for disaster relief in times of need. We achieve this by partnering with non-profit organisations to provide charitable donations and coordinate employee volunteer opportunities that advance their objectives. Our key non-profit partners include the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, Operation Smile, Project C.U.R.E. and the American Red Cross.

Why it matters

By strategically selecting non-profits whose work addresses healthcare disparities and provides disaster relief, we can increase the breadth of our impact.

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Stryker is committed to improving patient outcomes by increasing access to safe and affordable healthcare globally. We achieve this by partnering with non-profit organisations to provide charitable donations that fund initiatives like training and medical education programmes and coordinate employee volunteer opportunities that advance their efforts. These activities may help address healthcare disparities. Our focus areas include:

Increasing surgical capacity by training healthcare professionals in low- and middle-income countries.
Improving access to technology to ensure healthcare providers have the latest medical technology to deliver quality care.
Fostering community engagement that builds trust and collaboration between healthcare systems and the communities they serve.
Creating sustainable healthcare systems and education programmes that create long-term improvements in the global health system.

Read on to learn how Stryker works with key non-profit partners to create a better, healthier world.

For over 30 years, Stryker has partnered with Operation Smile to help close healthcare barriers and improve care quality

Dr. Clovis Baramburiye performs surgery while surgical residents observe in Rwanda, Africa. Photo courtesy of the Operation Smile.

Operation Smile is a global non-profit bridging the gap in access to essential surgeries and health care. They provide cleft surgery and comprehensive care, medical education and training and long-term investments in strengthening local health systems and workforces in low- and middle-income communities. With our donations, Operation Smile offers a range of medical education and training programmes to healthcare professionals that help build local capacity, increase access to high quality care and improve patient outcomes. In 2024, Stryker has helped train more than 2,300 healthcare professionals through our partnership with Operation Smile.¹

Our dedicated network of global employee Operation Smile ambassadors, a group of Stryker’s employees who champion and fundraise for the organisation, are also committed to educating their community about Operation Smile’s mission. Ambassadors play a crucial role in the success of our partnership and raising awareness and funds for Operation Smile. Through their efforts, employees have collectively raised more than $1.8 million since 2016.²

Stryker supports disaster relief with the American Red Cross

Bettye and her family survived a fire in their Alabama home in December 2022, thanks to smoke alarms that Red Cross volunteers had installed just two months earlier

Bettye Brewer (centre) and her family survived a fire in their Alabama home in December 2022, thanks to smoke alarms that Red Cross volunteers Robert Jay Wortley (left) and Mike Turner (right) had installed just two months earlier. Photo courtesy of the Red Cross.

The American Red Cross mobilises the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors to alleviate human suffering. From extreme weather due to the climate crisis to single family home fires, the American Red Cross is ready to step in when a crisis strikes. As a member of the Annual Disaster Giving Programme, Stryker’s pre-investment in disaster relief helps ensure the Red Cross is ready to act when needed.

The American Red Cross also supplies nearly 40% of the nation’s blood.³ Stryker supports these efforts by encouraging employee participation in blood drives. Stryker’s African Ancestry Network (SAAN) has organised multiple local blood drives, mobilising employees to donate blood for patients in need.

To ensure the American Red Cross has the resources to respond effectively to urgent needs, Stryker employees also support disaster relief efforts by assembling relief kits and providing donations to the American Red Cross.

Stryker donates medical equipment and supplies with Project C.U.R.E. partnership

A nurse checks the blood pressure of a patient at a Project C.U.R.E. clinic. Photo courtesy of Project C.U.R.E.

A lack of proper equipment should never be a barrier to quality healthcare. For healthcare professionals and caregivers in under-resourced countries, inadequate equipment and supply leads to delays in providing care to patients. Of the 313 million surgeries done around the world each year, only 6% of them occur in under-resourced countries.⁴ This is why our partnership with Project C.U.R.E., the world’s largest distributor of donated medical equipment and supplies to under-resourced communities, is vital to the healthcare ecosystem.

Since 2007, Stryker and Project C.U.R.E have worked together to deliver medical relief through monetary donations, product donations and employee volunteer efforts. In 2023, Stryker collaborated with Project C.U.R.E to respond to global natural disasters in addition to our Orthopaedic Power Tool Grant Programme that impacted 21 countries from Angola to Zambia.⁵ Employees also volunteered to sort donations and share technical expertise in distribution centres across the United States.⁵ Project C.U.R.E.’s mission allows us to improve the experience of healthcare professionals and patients. With the proper tools, healthcare workers can take better care of their patients.

Stryker helps protect health workers’ mental health and wellbeing alongside the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation

Nurse holding a tablet in a hospital setting

We recognise that the wellbeing of healthcare professionals is crucial to a healthy and functioning healthcare ecosystem. Our new partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation focuses on the safety and wellbeing of healthcare providers, with a focus on reducing burnout of healthcare professionals. The foundation advises the healthcare industry on how to implement wellbeing initiatives, drives awareness to reduce stigma and accelerates programmes that seek ways to improve provider wellbeing.

In partnership with Stryker, the foundation has been able to support their signature programme, All In: Caring for Caregivers, which focuses on creating better workplace environments for healthcare workers. As part of this initiative, the Foundation supports healthcare organisations in implementing the ‘Impact Wellbeing Guide: Taking Action to Improve Healthcare Worker Wellbeing', which has been accessed by nearly 14,000 hospital leaders within the first four weeks of the guide’s release. “Together with partners like Stryker, we can address this mental health crisis our health workers are experiencing and make a lasting impact on our healthcare workforce’s wellbeing”, says Corey Feist, Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

“Our mission to make healthcare better cannot be achieved without our non-profit partners”, says Anita Mehta, Director of Social Impact at Stryker. “With each of these efforts, Stryker’s goal remains the same – we want to improve the experience of giving and receiving care so patient outcomes improve. Our global employee base is very passionate about making a difference and it’s fantastic to see how our efforts to improve access to healthcare care bring them together.”

References

1. Data on file with Operation Smile.
2. Internal data on file at Stryker.
3. American Red Cross. ‘Importance of the Blood Supply’. Accessed 10 October 2024 via https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/how-blood-donations-help/blood-needs-blood-supply.html
4. Global Surgery 2030: evidence and solutions for achieving health, welfare, and economic development – The Lancet accessed 10 October 2024 via https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)60160-X/fulltext
5. Data on file with Project C.U.R.E.