Baxter Healthcare is celebrating 50 years of manufacturing in Ireland. The company’s Castlebar site, established in 1972 with just nine employees, celebrates its more than 1,200 employees and 50-year legacy.
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50 years old. Gold balloons number 50th anniversary, happy birthday congratulations.
A special event with the Taoiseach, IDA Ireland senior executives and global Baxter leadership commemorated the anniversary and the impact Baxter has had on its employees, the local economy and the healthcare sector in Ireland.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, said: “I’m delighted to join Baxter today as the company marks 50 years of operations at its site here in Castlebar. It is no small achievement for a company to successfully operate, evolve and grow its business over decades in the face of various global and transformational changes to the business landscape. Today is about celebrating that success and thanking Baxter, and all their workers, for their commitment and contribution to Castlebar, the North West region and to Ireland. I wish them many more years of continued success in their operations here.”
James Morrison, Baxter’s Castlebar plant manager, added: “We are very proud of all that we have achieved over the last 50 years in Ireland, with an extremely engaged workforce dedicated to providing products that help save and sustain patient lives across the globe. We have continuously evolved our operations in Castlebar through the introduction of new products and technologies, which has kept us to the fore of Baxter’s global manufacturing operations for five decades. Over this time, our team’s resiliency and commitment has never wavered; most recently throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our team continued its daily mission of producing life-saving therapies for our chronic and acute patients.”
Baxter’s Castlebar manufacturing site has steadily grown to become one of the largest production facilities for Baxter in Europe, producing more than 150 million products annually. It’s responsible for producing a range of medical solutions for renal dialysis therapy and drug administration purposes, which are exported to global markets including Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Since its opening 50 years ago, more than €350 million has been invested in the facility and its neighbouring site in Swinford.
Mary Buckley, executive director of IDA Ireland, said: “For half a century, Baxter Healthcare has made a substantial impact on the local economy and provided significant employment in Swinford and Castlebar, Mayo and the West Region. Growing from just nine staff in 1972 to more than 1,200 today, Baxter Healthcare’s Castlebar production facility is among the company’s largest in Europe. IDA Ireland wishes to congratulate Baxter Healthcare on reaching this noteworthy milestone and wish to assure James, his team in Castlebar and the wider Baxter Healthcare operations of IDA Ireland’s continued partnership.”
