BAXTER CANADA RELEASES ‘WELCOME HOME’ TWO-YEAR REPORT WITH CANADIAN RED CROSS
Mississauga, Ont. -
Today, Baxter Canada’s ‘Welcome Home’ national giving program in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross released its two-year report. Since the establishment of the partnership in 2018, Baxter Canada has contributed more than $300,000 to provide greater access to essential resources for patients returning home from hospital. This support is greatly needed as many Canadians do not have the financial or logistical resources to return home which can be a source of anxiety and stress.
“Baxter Canada is proud to support those in our communities who may need a helping hand. The Welcome Home program is specifically targeted at making their return home from the hospital a more positive one,” says Stephen Thompson, president and general manager, Baxter Canada. “Our unique partnership with the Canadian Red Cross, supported by our dedicated employees across the country allows us to make a meaningful social impact that helps save and sustain lives.”
Baxter employees are creating positive change through volunteer opportunities offered by the program. No Place Like Home is a postcard writing initiative where employees write encouraging notes to seniors in North Eastern Ontario through the Canadian Red Cross PATH program. In 2019 alone, employees wrote over 1,900 postcards.
Highlights of the report showcase Baxter’s contributions through its signature Welcome Home program:
The Health Equipment Loan Program (HELP) provides essential health equipment to individuals recovering from illness or injury throughout B.C. and the Yukon. Through Baxter’s support:
- A new full-time employee was hired to coordinate new HELP volunteers in the Lower Mainland Region of B.C.
- An additional 133 new volunteers were recruited with the most significant impact in the communities of Vancouver, Surrey, and Richmond
The Priority Assistance to Transition Home (PATH) program allows seniors who do not have a support system to still feel cared for and safe as they recover at home. Baxter’s support in Ontario facilitated:
- 3,262 PATH clients with 3,177 safe transitions from hospital to home
- An additional 79 PATH clients in North Eastern Ontario to transition safely from hospital to home
- 619 referrals for clients to community resources
- 575 care visits to clients after their initial transition home
The Mobile Food Bank provides an essential service for vulnerable people in the Greater Toronto Area. With Baxter’s support, employees:
- Donated 600 lbs. of food during its annual food drive in October 2019
- Volunteered 355 hours helping to pack 1,012 food hampers for 632 food bank clients
Baxter Canada and the Canadian Red Cross are continuing into the third year of this unique partnership. Looking forward, the program is to expand direct service delivery of the PATH program in key communities in North Eastern Ontario as well as the Homeward Bound program in Southwestern Ontario. The program will also support the Canadian Red Cross in working with hospital partners to collect and analyze PATH patient hospital data and implement a new volunteer model into the PATH program. Community outreach efforts will also be built upon in the Lower Mainland Region of B.C. to recruit and train new HELP volunteers to the program.
For more information on how you can support the Canadian Red Cross, visit www.redcross.ca. To see how Baxter’s Welcome Home program is helping those in underserved communities, take a look at the Year Two Impact Report, and #BaxterGivesBack and @baxter_intl on social media.
About Baxter Canada
Every day, millions of patients and caregivers rely on Baxter’s leading portfolio of critical care, nutrition, renal, hospital and surgical products. In Canada, we’ve been operating at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the healthcare providers that make it happen for 83 years. 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. Baxter Canada and its over 1,221 employees are located primarily in Ontario at the Head Office, CIVA Admixing and Technical Services Centres in Mississauga, and in Alliston – where Baxter operates Canada’s only large-scale manufacturing plant producing life-sustaining intravenous and dialysis solutions. To learn more, visit www.baxter.ca and follow Baxter on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Baxter is a registered trademark of Baxter International Inc.