In the beginning, Drs. Ralph Falk and Don Baxter launched the Don Baxter Intravenous Products Corporation, the first commercial manufacturer of prepared IV solutions. Dr. Francis Welch and William Noah Allyn developed the world’s first handheld, direct illuminating ophthalmoscope and established Welch Allyn. William (Bill) A. Hillenbrand revolutionized the industry with the idea to “bring the home into the hospital” with warmer, more comfortable wooden furniture. More than a century later, Hillrom and Welch Allyn became a part of Baxter.
These innovations strengthened the company’s storied history of driving healthcare advancements, and by the end of the 1930s, the company changed its name to Baxter Laboratories, Inc. and opened first manufacturing facility in a renovated automobile showroom in Glenview, Illinois.
In 1960, the company introduced the first peritoneal dialysis (PD) solution. PD filters waste from the blood of people in renal failure through their peritoneal membrane rather than an external dialyzer. In 1978, Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Deerfield, Illinois) launches the First National Hemophilia Home Service.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the company expanded to deliver a wider variety of products and services (including vaccines, a greater variety of blood products) through acquisitions of various companies. Sales and production facilities also expanded throughout the world.
According to baxter.com; en.wikipedia.org. Source of photo: internet
