To our Healthcare Professionals,

We wish to thank the physicians, nurses and all healthcare professionals around the world for their dedication and resolve to do what is best to support and care for the vast number of patients since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your collective commitment to treat COVID-19 patients, while putting your own well-being at risk, is inspiring to everyone at Arthrex.

On behalf of our 6,000 Arthrex global employees, we want to share our initiatives to support the need for additional personal protection equipment (PPEs), efforts to assist local healthcare professionals and first responders and an update regarding our operational status as it pertains to shipping, manufacturing and medical education.

As the virus became a serious threat, we directed our engineers to design technology that would offer additional assistance to our healthcare professionals treating COVID-19 patients. Utilizing Arthrex product design and manufacturing capabilities, we are moving forward to develop urgently needed PPE products to help protect caregivers on the frontline.

Already in production at our Southwest Florida facilities are face shields, which are manufactured utilizing advanced machining and 3D printing technology to maximize production quantities. Early estimates predict we can manufacture at a rate of 2,000 units per week. The face shield PPEs will be available to local healthcare systems and first responders followed by others in need based on production capacity.

Most recently, we began developing see-through, plexiglass intubation hoods. The hood is positioned over a patient’s head during the intubation process allowing the clinician access to intubate the patient while decreasing their exposure to the virus. Once the patient is intubated, the hood is removed and disinfected for the next patient. We anticipate finalizing the design and production of the hood within the next few days.

Lastly, we are also exploring opportunities to support cutting edge clinical research using cellular derived therapies that have the potential to treat coronavirus associated diseases.

In an effort to assist Southwest Florida healthcare professionals, we have made our campus facilities available to frontline providers as they work tirelessly to take care of others during this crisis. The Arthrex Wellness and Medical Center is welcoming local providers who wish to shower and change before traveling home. For those in need of sleeping accommodations, the Innovation Hotel on the Arthrex campus has designated rooms for physicians and nurses who are required to remain in close proximity to their healthcare facility or prefer not to go home to avoid risking exposure to others.

Many surgeons and healthcare system administrators have asked about our operational status as news of manufacturing companies reporting lay-offs and shutdowns becomes more frequent. Through comprehensive workplace environment COVID-19 precautionary measures and the extensive protection of our 2,000 plus manufacturing and logistics employees, Arthrex has remained at full capacity to ensure the continuation of our manufacturing and shipping operations through this crisis. In accordance with the new elective surgery guidelines of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), our primary focus will be providing surgical products and service support for AAOS defined acute orthopedic procedures that should be performed, ideally in an outpatient facility.

Arthrex has temporarily substituted cadaveric surgical skills wet lab education with live virtual medical education presentations in which state-of-the-art digital media technology remotely delivers the most up-to-date information on less invasive orthopedic surgery and orthobiologics to surgeons around the world. See the Virtual Medical Education Events schedule. Additional digital educational opportunities can now be experienced at two websites, the new Orthopedia.com and Arthrex.com where the latest educational content can be accessed at your convenience.

The innovative talents of Arthrex engineers, scientists and product managers, with the assistance of surgeon consultants, have solved many orthopedic surgical problems over the years in pursuit of our corporate mission of Helping Surgeons Treat Their Patients Better™. Today, we are applying the same innovative spirit and rapid responsiveness to provide protective solutions for our healthcare professionals. Please contact us with ideas or questions related to COVID-19 at ArthrexCOVID19@Arthrex.com.

Thank you for your courage, selflessness and dedication to care for patients in need and for confronting this global health pandemic.

Sincerely,

Reinhold Schmieding
President and Founder
Arthrex Inc.

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