December 2016 | Business View Caribbean

96 97 Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited MEDICAL DISPOSABLES & SUPPLIES LIMITED BUSINESS UNUSUAL Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited (MDS) is a Jamaican-based distributor of healthcare and consumer products, with a catalogue that spans pharmaceuticals, vaccines, injectables, hospital supplies, medical disposable items, medical sundries, consumer products, and beauty items. MDS distributes its products to pharmacies, hos- pitals, doctors’ offices, gas stations, gift shops, stores, and other retail outlets. MDS was founded in 2000 by Myrtis Boothe, a registered nurse by profession whose business instincts were honed via an 11-year management career at one of the country’s leading healthcare distri- bution companies where she was instru- mental in establishing its Hospital and Medical division. “She ventured out on her own with few resources,” says Kurt Boothe, Myrtis’ son and the company’s General Manager. “But because of my mother’s experience in the industry, she knew what areas to target and what areas were man- ageable. She knew how to navigate.” That knowledge, coupled with faith and perseverance, as well as the vision of creating a company that would not only focus on patients’ well-being, but provide unwavering personal attention to those served, and a non-negotiable mandate of never compromising on product quality, turned a one-woman operation, into what is today, a publicly-traded, family-run en- terprise with a staff of 53 employees and a net profit of $84.6 million for the 2015 financial year on revenues of $1.2 billion. When MDS began trading, the company specialized in medical and hospital sup- plies and disposable items such as surgical masks, gloves, tubes, gauze, and adhesive and other bandages. It later expanded into the distribution of pharmaceuticals and health and personal care items, and other consumer goods. Today, the company is a co-distributor of the GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Reddy’s and Bunny’s pharmaceuticals and healthcare lines, and is also a sub-distrib-