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In the late 1980s, Medicom and AMD Ritmed were “sister” companies. AMD Ritmed was dedicated to the medical channel, while Medicom initially focused primarily on the dental channel.
Over the years, the two companies’ operations became so closely intertwined that they merged under the Medicom name and Ritmed became one of Medicom’s brands.
Medicom History
In 1988, Ronald Reuben founded Medicom in Montreal, Canada, to meet the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare professionals during the AIDS crisis. The company began selling medical examination gloves, primarily to the dental market, under the SafeTouch brand. Soon, SafeGauze and other sterile cotton products were added to the company’s offering.
In 1997, Medicom began manufacturing medical masks and dental bibs at the United Medical Enterprise (UME) plant in Augusta, Georgia. The following year, Medicom purchased UME and began to expand focus to include all types of PPE.
The company quickly earned the trust of healthcare professionals and in 1998, Medicom acquired AMD Ritmed, officially launching into the medical channel.
AMD Ritmed History
AMD Ritmed was founded in the early 1970s by Morris Goodman, founder of Pharmascience. Originally known as American Medical Disposables (hence, “AMD”), the company manufactured high-quality specialty sponges, also in Montreal.
The company established important points of differentiation, such as quality controls, manufacturing expertise and understanding of end-user needs. Over time the portfolio was expanded to include wound care, general medical and surgical supplies and protective apparel.
In 2012, AMD Ritmed launched the patented AssureWear VersaGown. This innovative medical gown was proven to significantly decrease cross-contamination during donning and doffing versus standard gowns. Thanks to a constantly evolving R&D strategy, the Ritmed VersaGown remains one of Medicom’s flagship products and the gold standard in medical gowns.
A significant merger combining 50 years of expertise
In 2011 AMD Ritmed and Medicom Inc. began sharing cross-functional resources in an effort to leverage expertise and resources across the two organizations.
In 2015, AMD Ritmed and Medicom were merged. By leveraging their combined 50 years of infection control and PPE manufacturing expertise, the company could provide head-to-toe protection for healthcare professionals in both the medical and dental channels, as well as in other channels.
“Ritmed” becomes a Medicom brand
Following the merger, “Ritmed” became one of Medicom’s premium brands. Ritmed products sold by Medicom include gowns and apparel such as isolation gowns, chemo-safe gowns, surgical gowns, lab coats, examination gloves and many other products for the medical sector.
Medicom: Medical mask experts
While Ritmed specialized in protective apparel, Medicom was focused on medical masks, leveraging scientific and manufacturing expertise to develop some of the industry’s most reliable and innovative procedure face masks and N95-type respirators.
When the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented demand for masks, Medicom was uniquely positioned to exponentially increase supply. Thanks to a manufacturing footprint spread across three continents and a broad network of raw material suppliers. The company was also able to leverage extensive experience earned in responding to demand spikes during the avian flu, SARS, H1N1 and Ebola epidemics. When COVID-19 broke out, within a matter of months, Medicom opened six new mask factories around the world and became a highly sought-after partner for governments seeking to secure local, sovereign supply.
More than just mask experts
In addition to medical masks, Medicom products include examination gloves, SafeSeal Quattro sterilization pouches, ProSurface disinfectants, premium protective apparel, as well as award-winning SafeGauze HemoStat topical hemostatic dressing.
Medicom today
Today, the Medicom Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of high-quality, single-use, preventive and infection control products for the medical, dental, industrial, animal health, laboratory, retail and health and wellness markets.
In addition to the Medicom and Ritmed brands, Medicom distributes infection control products under the Kolmi, Hopen, Ocean Pacific and Hedy brands.
With subsidiaries in France (Kolmi-Hopen), Hong Kong (Medicom Asia), the U.S. (United Medical Enterprise), Singapore (KHM Engineering) and the U.K. (Medicom HealthPro Limited) and 10 wholly owned or fully controlled factories across Europe, North America and Asia, Medicom is poised for continued growth throughout 2021 and beyond.
