BACKGROUND

From a personal history to the foundation of a great company

When Jaime Alejandro Cervantes Hernandez, Electronic Engineer, lost his brother due to a kidney disease in 1970, his challenge became to refocus his profession to medical assistance. He would not have then imagined, the scope that this noble cause would have.

Initially, Engineer Cervantes started linking electronics to medicine, by working in maintenance and repair of medical equipment in several Health Care Centers around the country. He worked as at the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social as Chief of the Electronics Section of the Medical Equipment Department. Very soon, this job helped him recognize infrastructure problems, lack of service and organization deficiencies experienced everyday by patients and medical staff.

Later, he entered the Sociedad R. Toca y Cia., where he became Manager of Medical Equipment Maintenance. His experience in these matters was supported by a stage in the United States. The purpose of this stage was to see how different equipment manufacturer companies calibrated their products. He then approached in detail several highly specialized equipments such as echoencephalography, othology, echocardiography, cytology, audiometry, electrocardiography, defibrillators, and physical medicine equipments, among others.

As a qualified professional, from 1972 to 1975 he became Manager of Sales and Services at the Company Ziman de Mexico, which is an enterprise representative of a foreign firm that manufactures nephrology equipments.

With the rich experience achieved after six years of entering the medical equipment market, Engineer Cervantes founded Vitalmex.

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Chronology

1976 Vitalmex is created as a 100% Mexican marketing company, whose market is mainly focused in hemodialysis and heart surgery equipments. As well, the company is specialized in managing approximately 50 different lines, between equipment and accessories.

1978 Mechanical peritoneal dialysis equipments entered the Mexican Market. This innovation implies an important training effort and medical and nursing personnel consciousness. Public hospitals become the main clients of the company.

1980 Vitalmex is consolidated as a marketing company and encourages the creation of a new subsidiary focused on research, development and national manufacturing of instruments and supplies, competing with imported products in cardio-surgery and nephrology areas.

Vitalmex obtains first place in the National Contest on Science and Technology (CONACYT) with the work "New oxygenator: design, development and basis for clinical use".

1981 Instrumed de Mexico opens to the market as a medical product manufacturing company.

Extracorporeal circulation piping, cardiotomy reservoir, blood oxygenators, peritoneal dialysis cycling and bags are manufactured.

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1988 Instrumed receives the Technological Merit Award (Reconocimiento al Merito Tecnologico) granted by Fideicomiso para el Desarrollo Industrial (FONEI) pertaining to Banco de Mexico, as the most successful Mexican company in research, technology development and new-product marketing.

1990 A technological interchange agreement is entered with the Russian company Medigrant. The agreement pursues sales of bubble oxygenators, dismantled reservoirs and piping to be assembled in Russia and marketed in East Europe.

1991 In Dusseldorf, Germany, Instrumed participates in the International Exposition of Medical Equipments.

Instrumed shows its products at the Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The outcome is sales to Netherlands, Greece, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, Thailand, India and Bolivia.

1993 The company Laser Industries Ltd. grants the best distributor in Latin America award to Vitalmex.

1994 A strategic alliance between Cobe de Mexico and Vitalmex is created. With this strategic alliance, Vitalmex becomes a leader company in hemodialysis equipments and supplies marketing.

The Integral Hemodialysis Service concept is introduced in the Mexican market, transforming traditional practices among Health Care Sector suppliers.

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1998 Aquamedica is created and its purpose is to manufacture worldwide products.

2000 Vitalmex reorients and reorganizes its Integral Services for Operation Rooms, High Specialty (Cardiology and Transplantations), Hemodynamic and Imaging and Hemodialysis, offering both innovative and competitive products in the national and international environments and a highly innovative medical logistic detailed system.

Innovamedica is created as a company specialized in research, design, and development of new medical equipment for the Health Care Sector.
Integral Services grow to Minimal Invasion and Electrosurgery.

2001 Vitalmex is restructured as GRUPO VITALMEX.
 
Vitalmex Internacional is inaugurated in order to provide Integral Services in three areas: operation rooms, high specialty and imaging.

2004 Vitalmex Germany, is created as to expand the business model abroad.

2005 Medika Humana is created in order to establish Health Services and Clinical and Hospital Infrastructure.

2007 Vitalmex Comercial is created to market worldwide products for the Health Care Sector.