Martha discusses the unprecedented decisions Medtronic made during the pandemic, promising new innovations in the company’s pipeline, and his perspective on the future of healthcare.
On responding to the demand for ventilators as he assumed the role of CEO at the start of the pandemic:
Waldron: I read that, in a span of one hour on a Sunday night in March 2020, you fielded calls from the White House, the president of Ireland, and several governors. What was going through your mind in that moment? And did it feel as though the weight of the entire global health crisis was resting on your shoulders as you were assuming the role of CEO of Medtronic?
Martha: It was clear that we were going to have to do something dramatic and really focus on this. And the other thing that was going through my mind is once we realized how big the gap was between the demand and our ability to supply, how are we going to – how do you allocate what you have, too? How do you decide who gets what? So there was a lot of heavy questions going through my mind at that point.
On the medical innovations in Medtronic’s pipeline:
We spent years building what we’re saying is the best pipeline in Medtronic’s history, and it’s coming to fruition right now. We just got – we’ve got a lot of meaningful innovation across the company broadly, and then we’ve got – sprinkled in with that is some disruptive innovation that’s either disrupting existing markets or creating whole new markets.
This episode was recorded on October 13, 2021.
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