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EF: Imagine you were in the COP26 conference as a speaker, what would be your message to deliver towards the world leaders?
AM: We need to create a sustainable healthcare environment for all patients. Our main objective is to help the patients, while being careful about how we use the natural resources from the Earth, and how we, as companies, give it back to communities.
EF: Could you elaborate on the role Fresenius Medical Care had during these past 18 months?
AM: These past months have been extremely challenging. We are living in a pandemic that has been evolving over time. Our therapeutic area is mostly focused on CKD: we treat patients with chronic kidney disease that need dialysis or hemodialysis. These procedures are sophisticated and in a pandemic context, our patients are at risk. They need our treatments to survive, so business continuity was key. With COVID-19, we had to implement several protocols to keep our everyone safe. Our role was critical as patients depend on our service to survive. It has been extremely challenging for organizations like ours to take care of our patients. As dialysis providers and product manufacturers, we are the only company in the world who provided both the products and the services, focusing on the best treatment for our patients. We have been able to still provide our services, and since some covid patients had their kidney affected, we have seen an increase in acute kidney procedures around the world.
We strive to provide the best treatment possible. We are the leaders in the world in what we do, and we are proud of maximizing the quality of health of our patients.
EF: What are the lessons learned from managing during these times?
AM: The most important lesson learned is that people understood they need to take care of themselves and also their families. Another important lesson is to focus on your mission. Ours is to provide the best treatment possible for the patients. And therefore, we're doing this even with the adverse circumstances that we face.
EF: Can you elaborate on how your services evolved over time these past months?
AM: We have seen an increase in our demand, because several NCDs such as diabetes or hypertension lead to chronic kidney pain. This means that our demand increased and we had to have everything in place to ensure business continuity when our patients needed us the most. Our patients come mostly from the public sector and our treatments are very sophisticated and require special attention. This means that having the right access strategy is paramount. Increasing access to dialysis in Mexico is challenging because of the nature of the therapy. The therapy involves many components, as patients may have other pathologies.
EF: Could you elaborate on the relative importance of Fresenius Medical Care Mexico to the group?
AM: We have an extensive footprint in Mexico, that demonstrates Fresenius' relevance and trust in Mexicans. We have over 40 manufacturing facilities around the world, and Fresenius Medical Care sees the capabilities of our talent as well as the quality of the products that we manufacture in our locations in Mexico. I believe the company wants the Mexican operation to grow and to be able to export to more countries around the world. We have three plants in Mexico, one of which dedicates to exporting to the US. The plant in Guadalajara is an FDA-approved facility. Because the regulations are so difficult to meet, there aren't many licensed plants in Mexico. We're working on a plan to be able to export products to other European and Asian countries. As a result, this speaks very strongly of Mexican labor relations and the quality of Mexican-made goods.
EF: How did you balance the resource allocation across the different programs and services you provide?
AM: I have a fantastic team that assists me in running the businesses and providing the best services and products. We are known as the best providers in the market, not just in Mexico, but worldwide. Our products are self-explanatory. So, in terms of both programs and services, I believe we are among the best in the world.
EF: When you look grow your team, what are the skillsets you look for?
We are looking for people who are passionate about their jobs, who are passionate about achieving their goals, and who love to provide the best product and services to the patients, because the patients are our mission. So we're looking for people who are passionate about this, who wake up every day excited to be a part of everything we do, to be able to help people live their best lives.
EF: How are you balancing and engaging with your team while some of them are working from home and some most of them are coming to the offices?
AM: We're quite lucky because we implemented this kind of work from home policy three years before the pandemic hit. We're working already two days from home, three days at the office. Every employee had the opportunity to choose which two days they wanted to work from home. So for us that transition was very easy.
So we were prepared for that. We didn't know of course, it would happen. We were more looking for our work life balance, because a lot of people have to travel many hours to go to the office. So we decided to do a model that we work from Monday to Thursday, full time. And then Friday is just half day. So people are more productive. This is being implemented in some other countries. Now, on a national level. We have had it since 10 years.
This year, we received the Super Company award. Everyone is very pleased with the benefits that we provide, which means not only a salary but also emotional salary benefits, such as the ability to work from home and spend more time with their children. As a result, I believe we have implemented numerous strategies to provide the best benefits to our employees.
EF: How do you see the future of homecare?
AM: It would be ideal if the public sector could provide more home therapies to be used. We need to work on the industry and the government to decide what kind of therapy what kind of therapies can be provided at home. Right now, there are certain limitations because of blood management that could risk the patient life. We have home dialysis in the US that involves catheters and fistulas and blood circulating around machines. Unfortunately, Mexico still has to be defined.
EF: Could you elaborate on the role of your manufacturing plants in Mexico?
AM: One is entirely devoted to the US market. Guadalajara was transformed to fully export some other products to the United States. The Reynosa plant is dedicated to disposables, such as the items we use during our dialysis sessions. And the products made in Guadalajara are referred to as solutions, such as saline solution, which is administered through a vein when you go to a hospital. So, while Hara is developing treatments, we are developing solutions. The plant in Reynosa that produces plastic disposables is quite interesting.
EF: Could you elaborate more on your portfolio allocation in terms of Public and Private sector?
AM: That is fairly balanced in terms of the number of patients or the length of stay in between. As a result, public coverage is more expensive for patients, while private patients stay in the private market for a shorter period of time. So it's a different story with the patient.
EF: In 5 years down the line, when you look back to these days, how would you want to be remembered?
AM: I want to be remembered as someone who works with his team to help our people get through these difficult times, their families, and their loved ones, and then to be remembered as someone who continues to provide the best care to our patients, regardless of the circumstances. And as I mentioned the employees come first because if they're okay, they'll be able to provide the treatments and services that our patients require.
