Accelerating access to healthcare technology

We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And through partnerships, education, and advocacy, we dismantle barriers to care so more people can benefit from these life-transforming innovations.

Videos from this campaign

Fanny Ochoa, Community Health Worker

Content from this campaign

Social Impact & Volunteering

Helping Where Help is Needed
When the hours after Hurricane Maria turned to days, Virgen Colon of Juncos, Puerto Rico, grew increasingly frightened. Without power in her flooded house, she needed electricity to operate the air conditioning and fans which kept her son Jan cool. He is 23, born with severe birth defects that have left him bed-bound his entire life. He also needs oxygen and feeding tubes, and the various medical devices that help him breathe and survive required power to operate. Finally, desperate, she called the mayor of Juncos. He solved her problem with one call to Medtronic.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Teamwork: Medtronic Helps Villalba Restore Power
City leaders had planned to use the nearby Toro Negro hydroelectric plant to power the town of Villalba in case Hurricane Maria knocked out the island’s electricity. Built in the 1920’s, the historic plant had once powered the town. But in recent decades it gave way to Puerto Rico’s power grid. It still produced some power, but not for Villalba. But in the aftermath of Maria, when it came time to power up, the plant did not work. Medtronic assisted with critical repairs to bring electricity back.

Health & Healthcare

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in and Outside the Company
When Medtronic decided to partner with the Minnesota Vikings this fall, the goal was simple — bring awareness to the importance of health and fitness. In September, Medtronic and the Vikings awarded a local school with a "Fit Zone" donation. The financial support allowed Minneapolis North Community High School to invest in a new weight room and training center for its student athletes. Additionally, Medtronic is providing Twin Cities employees the opportunity to donate gently used sports equipment throughout the month of October. The donations will go to the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Helping in Houston: Employees Step up Following Historic Hurricane
The Medtronic Mission, written by the company’s founders more than 50 years ago highlights the importance of “maintaining good citizenship as a company.” Employees are coordinating with All Hands Volunteers, a disaster relief organization, sending waves of teams to Houston to support the community following Hurricane Harvey. The company allows employees up to five days of paid leave to volunteer with disaster relief efforts. Medtronic and the Medtronic Foundation are also donating to organizations assisting those affected by the storm while several Medtronic facilities are collecting supplies and organizing blood drives.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Volunteers Put Work on Hold and Serve in Puerto Rico
Medtronic continues to team up with All Hands and Heart, a disaster relief organization. Together, they’re providing opportunities for employees to put a pause on their day jobs and pitch in throughout hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Medtronic Foundation Opportunity Grant Initiative Now Seeking Applications
Medtronic Foundation is seeking project ideas to test or scale solutions that improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery by addressing gaps in distance, time or people, while leading to demonstrable health outcomes for underserved populations. Successful applicants will receive a one time, one-year grant for US$50,000-US$100,000 and will participate in a global learning collaborative facilitated by the Medtronic Foundation. Up to ten (10) grants will be awarded.

Health & Healthcare

Latin Telemedicine Expands Impacting More Patients
Telemedicine in Latin America is expanding — proving just how important partnerships and technological advancements can be to health care management in remote areas. Medtronic, along with the Lumen Foundation and Internal Telemedicine Systems, formed the Latin American Telemedicine Infarct Network (LATIN) to address one of the region’s most pressing challenges — cardiovascular disease, specifically STEMI. Today, LATIN is offered in more clinics — serving more patients – than ever before. The model continues to grow in Colombia and Brazil with more than 120 participating clinics and 19 hospitals. In remote parts of Mexico, 35 primary care centers and three hospitals have adopted the model for the first time.

Social Impact & Volunteering

All Hands on Deck: Employees Team up to Assist Flood Victims
Donning a hooded protective jumpsuit, ventilation mask and heavy work gloves – only her smiling eyes are visible as she raises a 20-pound sledge hammer high above her head.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Medtronic Is Back to Full Production in Puerto Rico
Every production line, for every product at every Medtronic facility in Puerto Rico is now operating at pre-hurricane levels. Medtronic provided free meals to its 5,000 employees in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and paid their wages even while production was offline. The company also brought in more than one million bottles of water, as well as thousands of boxes of food. And it provided 40,000 gallons of free gasoline, on-site laundromats and day care for employees, along with a variety of other services such as banking and help with FEMA applications.

Health & Healthcare

Local Experts: Panama Technical Service Training Center
Medtronic opened a 3,500-square-foot Technical Service Training Center in Panama City, Panama. Strategically located, the new training center is more accessible and convenient for biomedical technicians traveling from countries in Central and South America for hands-on technical training.

More from Medtronic

  1. Accelerating access to healthcare technology
    We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And...

  2. Advancing inclusion, diversity, and equity
    We believe in zero barriers to opportunity, so we use all the assets we have to advance equity in our communities and within our business. We drive...

  3. Protecting our planet
    We believe that people can only live their healthiest lives on a healthy planet. That’s why we reduce our environmental footprint by finding...

  4. Medtronic Impact -- Reporting
    We know that every action we take impacts the future of our employees, our business, our communities, and our planet. We put people and the planet...