National Quality Award 2007

Vitro continues its leadership position upon receiving the 2007 National Quality Award

• The company is recognized for its world class quality practices
• This is the 6th occasion that Vitro has received this award in Mexico

Clínica Vitro was awarded the 2007 National Quality Award, in the category of Health Institutions, by Eduardo Sojo, Secretary of Economy for Mexico, in a ceremony that took place in the Alcazar Salon in the Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City.

“We are extremely proud to receive this award from the highest authority in Mexico, thus confirming the firm conviction of our company and in particular Clínica Vitro, to offer health services with the highest quality standards that has positioned us as one of the best hospitals in its field in the country. This recognition also proves our total commitment to quality in our products and processes as well as our services”, declared Federico Sada, CEO of Vitro.

On his part, Jesús Horacio González, Director of Medical Services for Vitro, reminded those present that Clínica Vitro was founded in 1947 for the purpose of providing quality health services to the employees of the company and their families, becoming a pioneer institution in the area of Social Health Services in Mexico.

“Starting in 2002 we extended our services beyond just the company by offering health services to the community at large which was enthusiastically welcomed, due to the public’s perception of the Clínica Vitro as a hospital of excellence”, he added.

Just in 2007 alone 102,565 appointments were attended to of which 92,002 were directly covered employees or family and 10,563 were external visits; 1,898 surgeries were performed, of which 969 were external, and 16,399 emergency cases were attended to, 336 births, 267 dialysis procedures, 116 chemotherapies and 5,750 rehabilitation sessions.

As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to continually improve the quality of medical services, last year Clínica Vitro made an important investment in a new surgical and endoscope unit.

“Towards the end of 2007 the most important expansion in 40 years was completed when the capacity for surgical procedures was expanded by 30 per cent and endoscope procedures by 50 per cent for the benefit of the employees of Vitro and their families as well as the community in general”, explained González.

He emphasized that this is the first time that a private medical institution, open to the general public, received the 2005 Nuevo León Award for Quality in the Health Sector in the category of Hospital Services

Finally he commented, “This growth is a result of our focus on quality and is reflected in greater demand for the services that we offer while we conserve the warmth in the treatment by our staff of patients and their families; a characteristic that distinguishes us from others”.

Clínica Vitro has a highly trained and certified staff, modern installations and advanced technology. In addition to being certified by ISO 9001-2000 in all of our medical and administrative procedures, this year the company received the distinction of being named a Socially Responsible Company by the Mexican Philanthropic Center for the contributions of Vitro in the benefit of its personnel and the community at large.

The National Award for Quality is a public recognition that is awarded annually in Mexico to those organizations that distinguish themselves by embracing “best practices” in management of Total Quality and therefore become role models to follow.

This is the sixth time that Vitro has been awarded this important prize with the other occasions being in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000 y 2005.