Baxter Highlights Progress Toward Its 2020 Corporate Responsibility Goals and Efforts to Make a Meaningful Difference Around the World

DEERFIELD, Ill. - 2019-06-27

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), a leading global medical products company, announced today the release of its 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report, which showcases the company’s progress on key initiatives to drive more sustainable operations, enhance product quality, build healthy communities, foster a strong work environment and improve access to healthcare.

The report spotlights Baxter’s accelerated progress toward a number of its 2020 Corporate Responsibility priorities, which includes surpassing several of its goals ahead of schedule in the areas of product innovation, employee health and safety, operations, and responsible procurement and logistics.

 “Our unwavering focus on strong corporate citizenship is as fundamental to our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives as the products in our portfolio,” said José (Joe) E. Almeida, chairman and chief executive officer. “I’m incredibly proud of our 50,000 employees, whose passion and tenacity fuel our corporate responsibility efforts and help us create lasting social, environmental and economic value for our stakeholders and the communities that we serve.”

Highlights of the 2018 report include:¹

Driving Sustainability of Products and Operations  

• In 2018, Baxter continued to implement sustainable practices across its value chain and reduce its environmental impact globally. Compared to its 2015 baseline, the company reduced absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 14%, exceeding its 2020 goal, in part due to 29% of Baxter’s energy use from operations coming from renewable sources. Baxter’s hospital and clinic recycling partnerships in Australia, New Zealand and Guatemala resulted in more than 200 tons of PVC recycled. In addition, the company increased its spending with diverse suppliers to 6.1% of relevant spending in 2018, up by more than 50% since 2015 and exceeding its goal.
• Since 2015, Baxter has enhanced its design control, change control and labeling processes, leading to more than 100 product improvements. As a result, Baxter saw significant improvements in quality-related metrics including a 19% decrease in complaint incidents, 73% reduction in medical device reports, 61% decline in field alert reports and 42% reduction in field actions compared to 2015.

Building Healthy Communities Worldwide

• Baxter and its employees are dedicated to improving the well-being of the communities where they live and work. In 2018, Baxter and the Baxter International Foundation donated nearly $18 million in cash and products to communities globally in support of humanitarian aid, disaster relief, STEM education initiatives and community engagement.

Increasing the Availability of Healthcare for the Underserved

• Baxter is focused on ensuring essential health services are accessible to those who need them most. Among hundreds of other grants and programs, these efforts include the Baxter International Foundation’s signature “Driving Your Health” initiative with the humanitarian organization Direct Relief, now in its third year. This free community mobile medical program serves the greater Mexico City area and offers services focused on improving health outcomes through basic preventive care, managing chronic conditions and providing transportation assistance to and from hospitals. From 2016 to 2018, more than 630,000 people benefitted from the program, exceeding the initial goal.

Fostering a Best Place to Work

• Baxter is deeply committed to attracting, motivating and retaining an inclusive and diverse workforce to drive innovation and collaboration. The company is proud to be recognized around the world by various industry associations and publications as a Best Place to Work, as a champion for women in leadership roles and for its progressive employee programs. Recognitions in 2018—among others—included being named to Working Mother’s ‘100 Best Companies’ list and a distinction from Forbes as one of ‘America’s Best Large Employers.’
• Healthy employees are more engaged and less vulnerable to safety incidents, which is why Baxter strives to create a culture that promotes personal and workplace health. In 2018, Baxter achieved an average employee participation rate of 38% in BeWell@Baxter employee wellness programs and accomplished top quartile results in total recordable incident rates among global companies across all industries as measured by ORC HSE.

More information about Baxter’s corporate responsibility initiatives can be found here.

About Baxter

Every day, millions of patients and caregivers rely on Baxter’s leading portfolio of critical care, nutrition, renal, hospital and surgical products. For more than 85 years, we’ve been operating at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the healthcare providers that make it happen. With products, technologies and therapies available in more than 100 countries, Baxter’s employees worldwide are now building upon the company’s rich heritage of medical breakthroughs to advance the next generation of transformative healthcare innovations. To learn more, visit www.baxter.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Baxter is a registered trademark of Baxter International Inc.

¹Please visit Baxter.com for full access to the 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report, further information and definitions for cited metrics.