WARSAW, Ind., Oct. 28 Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZMH; SWX: ZMH) today announced that OMeGA Medical Grants Association LLC (OMeGA) has chosen its 2009 grant recipients. OMeGA is the newly formed third party administrator for graduate medical education to which Zimmer committed $2 million in funding for educational grants for the 2009-2010 academic year.
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OMeGA received more than 250 applications for its fellowship and residency grants. This year, utilizing Zimmer's donation, OMeGA will fund 44 fellowship grants up to $75,000 each, representing 29% of programs requesting grants. Fellowship grants were allocated in all sub-specialty categories: Adult Reconstruction; Foot and Ankle; Hand Surgery; Oncology; Pediatrics; Shoulder and Elbow; Spine; Sports Medicine; and Trauma. OMeGA will also fund 21 residency grants up to $5,000 each at both academic institutions and community hospitals.
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"High quality education programs are essential to encourage medical graduates to enter the field. We are proud to collaborate with OMeGA to support institutions and programs that will help assure improvements in patient care," said David Dvorak, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zimmer Holdings. "At Zimmer, we are committed to providing surgeons with outstanding training programs. Through our contributions to OMeGA, we are able to offer needed support to aspiring surgeons."
In November 2008, Zimmer became the founding supporter of OMeGA, an independent organization created by the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA). The OMeGA board and review committee members are free from conflicts of interest: they do not have financial interests in any orthopaedic medical device manufacturer (for the previous two years) or leadership roles (i.e., financial decision-making) in orthopaedic fellowship or residency programs and educational institutions.
OMeGA manages grant requests from educational institutions and programs. Grant recipients and allocations are determined by the independent board and review committees composed of sub-specialty experts. These surgeons evaluate education programs based on objective criteria which include, among others, goals and objectives of the program, program accreditation status, ratio of faculty to fellows, quality of resources and facilities and recent published papers by fellows.
"There was a need for an independent, conflict of interest free third party administrator of graduate medical education grants," said C. McCollister Evarts, MD, President of OMeGA Medical Grants Association. "This was OMeGA's charter grant cycle and we thank Zimmer for having the vision to support our ambitious new endeavor. OMeGA's first cycle was an unqualified success and we look forward to an even better next cycle of grant-giving."
The OMeGA online grant management system will be open for applications for the 2010-2011 academic year starting January 4, 2010. More information on the available grants and selection process is available at www.omegamedicalgrants.org.
About the Company
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer designs, develops, manufactures and markets orthopaedic reconstructive, spinal and trauma devices, dental implants, and related surgical products. Zimmer has operations in more than 25 countries around the world and sells products in more than 100 countries. Zimmer's 2008 sales were approximately $4.1 billion. The Company is supported by the efforts of more than 8,000 employees worldwide.
About OMeGA Medical Grants Association
OMeGA Medical Grants Association is an independent, not-for-profit organization established in 2008. OMeGA awards and manages grants for orthopaedic graduate medical education (GME) through a consistent, accessible process designed to safeguard against potential conflicts of interest and ensure transparency in the allocation of resources. Visit www.omegamedicalgrants.org or call (847) 318-7330 for more information.
For more information about Zimmer, visit www.zimmer.com
Zimmer Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the orthopaedics industry, management's beliefs and assumptions made by management. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "may," "will," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "assumes," "guides," "targets," "forecasts," and "seeks" or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see our periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be set forth in our periodic reports. Readers of this document are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.
SOURCE Zimmer Holdings, Inc.
