Company Overview

Medline was founded in 1966, but its roots date back 100 years when A.L. Mills started Northwestern Garment Factory. Since then, the company has grown into America's largest privately-held national manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies and services. Medline provides products and services to the entire continuum of care, including hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, commercial laundries, home care dealers, home care agencies, physician offices and other alternate care sites. Headquartered in Mundelein, IL, Medline has more than 6,800 employees in North America, including an 800 person dedicated sales force.

Business Overview

Medline has 20 product divisions, and manufactures and/or distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers, dialysis centers, home health agencies and retail and other healthcare markets. Major product lines include:

• Gloves
• OR Custom Procedure Trays
• Textiles (scrubs, uniforms, and gowns)
• Durable Medical Equipment
• Respiratory Products
• Urologicals
• Diabetic Products
• Surgical Instruments & Other Surgical Products
• Incontinent Products
• Wound Care/Skin Care Product

Over the past five years, Medline has been the fastest growing distributor of medical and surgical supplies in the U.S., serving as the primary distributor to over 250 major hospitals and healthcare systems. As a leading distributor, Medline offers a comprehensive array of consulting and management services encompassing the supply chain and logistics, utilization and standardization, business tools and enhanced reporting capabilities, and on-staff clinicians. Medline maintains 34 distribution centers to deliver products to its health care customers where and when they need them.

With ten manufacturing facilities in North America and over 25 joint venture manufacturing plants worldwide, Medline manufactures many of the 100,000 products it sells and delivers direct to the marketplace. Medline sells in every state and in more than twenty countries. As a manufacturer and supplier of tens of thousands of medical products, Medline is dedicated to providing the highest quality products. In this pursuit, Medline has attained ISO 9000, EN 46000 and FDA QSR compliant, the most stringent international standards for producing quality products. As a result, Medline's customers benefit from lower costs and reduced product defects.

Guaranteed Savings/Cost Management Programs

In response to the immense pressures in the health care industry to lower costs, including reduced Medicare reimbursements, Medline has developed some of the most innovative and successful cost-saving solutions in the marketplace. Medline is debt-free and financially strong which allows the company to offer flexible and creative financial solutions that other suppliers are unable or unwilling to offer. These cost management efforts focus primarily on the supply chain and encompass a range of guaranteed savings programs, capitated programs for nursing homes and customized distribution programs. Medline also is a leader in providing a broad spectrum of products and services to the home care and alternate site marketplace. These include patient-specific ordering of products, billing services, standardization programs and wound care education and consultation.

Our Vision and Core Values

Vision

Our vision is to be the market leader in the healthcare industry by developing the most cost effective products combined with helpful clinical solutions. We are committed to continuously improving every part of our business through collaboration with our highly valued employees and customers.

Core Values

• Integrity – We act with uncompromising integrity. All our dealings are honest. We are committed to treating all people, inside and outside the company, with dignity and respect. We give everyone an equal opportunity, regardless of their personal characteristics, preferences or beliefs.
• Customer Focused – We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations every day, for both external customers and coworkers, and develop long-term relationships with them. All our customers are deserving of exceptional service levels.
• Care for Coworkers – We create an atmosphere of growth and opportunity where all employees can reach their potential. We seek to enjoy every day at work and celebrate people for their effort and success. We follow the Golden Rule by treating others the way we would like to be treated.
• Constant Improvement – We use the best of our abilities to get the results we desire, in the most cost effective way. We maintain a streamlined organization to allow for quick responses to market opportunities. We value individual initiative that leads to improvements in product offerings, product quality and service levels.
• Open Two-Way Communication – We strive for an environment in which management provides the information people need to do their jobs and employees can speak out on issues that affect them and the company.
• Leadership by Example – We practice what we preach. Managers demonstrate these core values and encourage all employees to do the same.