At a time when we face continued challenges and uncertainty as a global community – we are united by our mission and values to create a healthier, brighter future for one another and for our planet.
We believe in the life-changing potential of science for health care providers, their patients, our communities and our world. Our focus on improving patient health comes with a responsibility to make a positive impact both as a global company and as a corporate citizen.
Our recently released 2021 Performance Report highlights the collective achievements of our more than 41,000 employees around the world who strive every day to advance our environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities and opportunities. We measure our progress by the ways in which we are transforming care, investing in our people, accelerating possibilities, protecting the environment and creating value responsibly.
Here are some of our 2021 highlights.
Transforming Care: Because we’re here to meet critical patient needs
We met more patient needs through the research & development (R&D) of medical innovations to advance patient care, while remaining rigorously focused on quality and patient safety. We worked with providers to improve access to health care and grew partnerships to accelerate scientific progress. For example, we collaborated with research organizations, academic institutions and practitioners to evaluate and advance new ideas. Above all, we improved the lives of more than 30 million patients.
Additional advances include:
- $1+ billion invested in research and development
- 90 new products launched to advance patient care
- 145 active clinical trials with 14,000 patients enrolled globally
Investing in Our People: Because our people make everything possible
Boston Scientific invested in elevating employee rewards and reinforcing that diversity, equity and inclusion leads to better innovations and outcomes. We broadened existing workforce development programs and introduced new initiatives to increase opportunities for women and multicultural talent. We expanded existing development programs, including a program to provide those who build our medical devices opportunities to further their careers in business roles, and we introduced Anti-Racism & Cultural History (ARCH) training in the United States. Among other achievements, we:
- Made progress toward our 3Up by 2023 goals by increasing representation of women in supervisor and manager roles to 41.1% globally and multicultural employees in supervisor and manager roles in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to 21.6%
- Received the 2022 Catalyst award for our global initiative addressing barriers women and diverse employees face in the workplace
- Achieved 99%+ pay equity for employees across gender globally and for multicultural talent in the U.S. and Puerto Rico
Accelerating Possibilities: Because combating health inequities is the right thing to do
Boston Scientific continued to confront racism and intolerance. We partnered with 28 national and local organizations to implement the second year of our $3.5 million multiyear strategy to combat racism. Throughout the year, our people contributed more than 50,000 volunteer hours to communities around the world, resulting in:
- 35,000 students reached by our volunteer STEM teams helping to develop diverse talent
- 70 hospitals and providers acted to address inequities in specialty care through Close the Gap partnerships
- $75+ million in contributions for medical research, education and charitable organizations globally
- 35,000 students reached by our volunteer STEM teams helping to develop diverse talent
Protecting the Environment: Because we are all responsible for protecting our planet
We committed to net-zero carbon emissions across our value chain by 2050 by joining the United Nations Race to Zero and Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Business Ambition for 1.5 C campaign. Our efforts to confront climate change included impressive progress by local teams such as solar installations in Dorado, Puerto Rico that generated 1.5 million kWh for the site. The numbers tell the story of our results:
- 68% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in all manufacturing and key distribution sites since 2009 (Scope 1 and 2)
- 52% reduction in our carbon footprint in all manufacturing and key distribution sites since 2017 (Scope 1 and 2) while increasing patients reached by 20%
- 73% of electricity consumed in all manufacturing and key distribution sites generated from renewable sources, surpassing our interim goal of 50% by 20211
Creating Value Responsibly: Because we deliver on our commitments, especially when it’s tough
Meeting our responsibilities as a global company and citizen continues to call for new levels of innovation and resilience amid geopolitical conflicts, climate concerns and an ongoing pandemic. Risk and supply chain management were among our top priorities as we reinforced product and data security. While our teams managed logistics around the clock to keep our supply of products reliable, we also invested in supporting increased supplier diversity. Other highlights include:
- ~35 million products delivered
- 10,000+ hours of compliance training for customer-facing employees
- $865+ million spent on small and diverse suppliers
The work of our global teams to advance our ESG objectives has resulted in recognition such as inclusion on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America and being named for the third consecutive year as one of America’s Most JUST Companies by CNBC and JUST Capital, ranking 50 out of nearly 1,000 companies, first among companies in the health care equipment and services industry and number one in our industry for workers and the environment.
We have much more work to do, but we are making meaningful progress. We have a robust portfolio and pipeline, ambitious research and development, the highest quality standards and a deeply talented global team. Working together, we can continue to transform lives around the world through innovative medical solutions.
Learn more about our mission and our six core values at Boston Scientific.
- Reflects adjustments to previously reported figure of 72% renewable electricity in our 2022 Annual Proxy Statement, based on subsequent internal audit.