Baxter Canada has been a leader in innovation and health care for Canadians, but it is their commitment to saving and sustaining lives when patients and healthcare professionals need them most that makes them a Partner in Humanity. The Canadian Red Cross was thrilled to present Baxter Canada with the 2020 Partners in Humanity Award at a socially distanced meeting in September, with Ronan Ryan, Chief Marketing and Development Officer, and Stephen Thompson, former President and General Manager of Baxter Canada. The Partners in Humanity Award recognizes corporate partners that make an impact at the national or international level, engage volunteers, enhance the reach of the Canadian Red Cross, and promote the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
Welcome Home, an initiative of Baxter Canada in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross since 2018, supports vulnerable Canadians transitioning from hospital to home. The initiative provides key support to several programs, including the Priority Assistance to Transition Home (PATH), which helps seniors in Northern Ontario transition home from hospitals; Homeward Bound, the Southern Ontario equivalent of PATH; the Health Equipment Loan Program in British Columbia (HELP), which lends equipment to seniors; and the Mobile Food Bank in the Greater Toronto Area. During COVID-19, these programs have been even more critical in allowing Canadians to spend less time in hospitals, freeing up more beds for emergency patients. Research findings from these programs have also proved incredibly valuable to our external partners in healthcare, with our main government funder of the PATH program deciding to increase their annual level of support to the program this year as a direct result of the evaluation’s data.
Baxter Canada employees have also led by example in each of these programs, by writing welcome home postcards for seniors, raising money, and donating their time and energy as volunteers. Employees have volunteered
603 hours at the Mobile Food Bank and helped to pack
1,900 food hampers; employees in BC have volunteered
108 hours at the Vancouver HELP depot, loaning
615 pieces of equipment to
348 clients, and employees have donated
over $8,000 to further support PATH and HELP.
“I think what truly sets [Baxter Canada] apart and makes them a role model for other organizations is how they go above and beyond for our beneficiaries. And having that personal touch with the No Place Like Home Cards has helped make them feel at home and cared for, which is exactly why we do what we do.” – Louise Trudel, Senior Manager of Operations, PATH
INNOVATION DESPITE THE ODDS
Despite the barriers of COVID-19, Baxter Canada has kept up its innovating spirit, and found new ways to give support to Canadians. The Baxter International Foundation has generously given a $50,000 USD grant to the Canadian Red Cross COVID-19 and Emergency Response Fund and Baxter Canada employees also donated to show their support.
The “No Place Like Home” postcard program is one of Baxter Canada’s most popular employee support programs, where Baxter Canada employees write encouraging and friendly postcards to patients who are returning home from hospitals. In 2019, they wrote 1,900; this year, employees have gone digital, sending nearly 80 e-postcards and videos virtually to patients, providing much-needed words of comfort and care during an especially difficult time.
Thank you, Baxter Canada!