Focused on improving healthcare services, developing sustainability solutions, and overcoming barriers to care in underserved populations
B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun) and Kerma Medical Products, Inc. (Kerma) announced a collaboration to improve the development and delivery of healthcare products and services, with an emphasis on veteran, minority and other underserved communities. The companies will work together on a range of areas including product development, co-marketing opportunities, strategic sourcing, sustainable manufacturing, and diversity programs.
“Kerma has established itself as one of the premier minority, veteran-owned companies in the healthcare industry,” said Joe Grispo, Chief Sales Officer and Senior Vice President, B. Braun Medical. “Our collaboration gives us the opportunity to forge new relationships with a set of customers in the commercial market that have unique healthcare needs. With Kerma, we will improve our ability to understand those customers and know how to serve them better, while enhancing our diversity engagement goals and initiatives.”
The two companies have different product lines, but a common set of values that have driven their long-standing relationship, which is now solidified in the collaboration agreement. “In B. Braun, we saw a family-owned company whose mission and values are closely aligned with the principles upon which Kerma was founded,” said William “Joe” Reubel, President and CEO, Kerma.
“To us, this partnership means finding new ways to develop and deliver improved care programs and solutions to health systems and patient populations across the country. We are also excited to leverage B. Braun’s longstanding leadership in environmental responsibility and sustainable manufacturing – areas that are a growing concern to healthcare consumers,” Reubel concluded.
One of the immediate areas of focus for the partnership is to enhance diversity programs and engagement with healthcare organizations that support underserved populations. Kerma and B. Braun will work together to identify areas of need and establish targeted collaboration programs with healthcare providers to help improve health services and outcomes.
Kerma Medical Products, Inc. is a Veteran-Minority Owned Company (VOSB) located in Suffolk, Virginia with a direct sales division in Miramar, Florida that manages the delivery of Small Cap Equipment and Supplies. Kerma began as a manufacturer in 1991 as a United States Government supplier and in 1994, Kerma expanded into the Commercial Medical Products industry (e.g. hospitals). Kerma has established itself in the healthcare industry as a company that manufactures, assembles, and packages medical products and is now one of the largest diversity manufacturer/supplier companies in the private sector. We provide medical products to approximately 3000 of the 5000 Acute Care Hospitals in the country as well as government agencies distributed by Prime Vendors.
B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. Other key product areas include nutrition, pharmacy admixture and dialysis. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, PA and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap® and CAPS®.
Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 64,000 employees in 64 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise® philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, visit bbraunusa.com.