Having the word “Care” in your name is a promise and at the same time a responsibility to truly look after patients and people around the world.
For Fresenius Medical Care, corporate citizenship means being an accountable member of society and caring for people in need. We are committed to continuously engaging with communities around our locations and providing them with assistance and advice, with a particular focus on three areas closely related to our company purpose.
Empowerment and education
Since effective health care revolves around carrying out research, innovating, and then sharing the insights we gain, our work is focused on empowerment and education to advance scientific knowledge. We reach out to a broad audience, from children to patients and their families. Our goal is to inform people about kidney health and prevention as well as to accompany patients with renal disease on their life journey.
Regional and local activities
Secondly, we engage in regional and local activities to improve the quality of and access to care for patients. For example, the Fresenius Medical Care Foundation works to find better ways to help patients who need a donor organ and aims to educate the public about the importance of kidney transplantation. Raising awareness among potential kidney donors is one crucial way to save more lives.
Ongoing support
Third, we also provide ongoing support to building sound communities where our dialysis centers are located and caregivers work, tailored to local needs and specific socioeconomic conditions.
This broad approach to care encompasses numerous activities company-wide. Our 2022 Corporate Citizenship Survey reported over 160 projects, touching the lives of more than 115,000 people in Europe, the U.S., Asia and South America.
A successful mission
Kidney Kid lands at the Boys & Girls Club of America
Sometimes you need a superhero to learn about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle from an early age. Fresenius Medical Care’s Kidney Kid is exactly that superhero, who flies around the world and has taught more than 50,000 children so far why it pays off to stay physically fit, keep a healthy diet, and drink water instead of soda.
Launched in 2017 by Fresenius Medical Care in Asia as an innovative edutainment program for children and their parents, Kidney Kid has since gone global with animated videos, interactive learning, and physical games aimed at children aged 6 to 12.
In 2022, Fresenius Medical Care partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of America, a U.S. non-profit organization which has offered after-school programs to children and teens for 160 years. In the first year of their partnership, they have enlightened around 2,000 children at 20 Kidney Kid events, demonstrating their health equity commitments in action and helping us to bring health education to local, at-risk communities.
Second Life
Pro-transplantation campaign in Poland
Showing your commitment to others can take many forms, as high school students from the Wielkopolska region in Poland demonstrated with their creative contributions to Fresenius Medical Care’s annual local pro-transplantation campaign. Called “Second Life”, it has since 2009 successfully raised awareness of how organ donations can save lives.
What better time than Valentine’s Day to talk, write, or make a drawing to come forward and consent to donating a vital organ, be it a heart or a kidney? Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, hundreds of students learned about transplantation, signed their own declarations of intent and developed thoughtful and touching messages to get the word out, from thank you notes to physicians and nurses to a colorful mural.
This mostly digital approach is a new, creative addition to “Second Life”, which has been presented at more than 900 high schools in Poland and taught around 400,000 students about the importance of donating vital organs by 2022.
Brazilian Kidney Foundation
Donate and we'll double it
When Fundação do Rim, the Brazilian Kidney Foundation, was dangerously close to running out of money, Fresenius Medical Care in Brazil stepped in with an offer to its employees. If they donated to the charity, the Company would double the gift. About 300 staff members agreed to contribute ;a monthly sum to Fundação do Rim to help young kidney patients from disadvantaged families.
Through a census, the foundation oversees the registration of children and young people with chronic kidney disease in the state of Rio de Janeiro. At the beginning of the year 2022 the institution assists around 170 people. The funds are used to buy necessities such as food, blankets and clothing, plus the occasional toy as a surprise. The charity also offers physiotherapy and music therapy sessions, and runs art projects and a nutritional supplementation program to drive home the importance of a healthy diet.
Renal Support Network
Funding to build lasting friendships
Founded by kidney patient Lori Hartwell in 1993, the U.S.-based Renal Support Network aims to empower people like her to become knowledgeable about their illness, be proactive in their care, and stay hopeful about their future. Fresenius Medical Care supports the network annually, including sponsoring an annual Kidney Ball for teens with kidney disease, where they can meet and grow their network of friends.
Fresenius Medical Care "CARES" Fund
Taking care of each other
The Fresenius Medical Care CARES Fund was created to help employees facing unforeseen financial or personal hardship, or immediately after a natural disaster. It relies primarily on individual donations from employees and support from Fresenius Medical Care.
The CARES Fund was originally set up in the U.S. and intended for U.S. employees. In 2022, it was expanded to include colleagues and their families in Ukraine. As a result of generous contributions, we were able to award around $1,6 M to more than 1,200 employees in 2022.
The fund is a unique resource that enables us to support each other in times of need. It shows how we can work together to really make a difference in the lives of our colleagues and their relatives.
Humacyte
Support for surgeons in Ukraine
As a drawn-out war was unfolding in Ukraine, biotechnology company Humacyte decided to help surgeons on the frontlines save lives. Backed by a substantial investment from Fresenius Medical Care, the company started delivering its universally implantable blood vessels for vascular repair and replacement to a growing number of Ukrainian hospitals.
The bioengineered blood vessel, called HAV (Human Acellular Vessel), can remodel its vascular structure to imitate the recipient’s own living tissue and replace the original vessel. Humacyte’s technology provided an urgently needed option to treat traumatic blood vessel injuries in a war zone.
