Gradian Health Systems is a nonprofit medical device company that equips low-resource hospitals to perform safe surgery. They manufacture, sell, and distribute equipment that they support with clinical and technical training and ongoing customer service to ensure that hospitals in developing countries can deliver high-quality surgical and anesthesia care. Their core technology -- the Universal Anaesthesia Machine (UAM) -- is a CE-certified anesthesia workstation designed to function without electricity and oxygen, helping its users operate with confidence regardless of their environment.

Gradian was founded in 2011 by the Nick Simons Foundation, a family foundation that supports initiatives to improve access to healthcare around the world. They began as an enterprise to distribute the UAM, which was invented in Malawi and refined by Gradian and their manufacturing partner, OES Medical. In 2014, they spun out as an independent nonprofit, and have since expanded their distribution network to more than 200 operating rooms all over the world. Today, they work closely with hospitals, governments, NGOs, foundations, professional societies, and other organizations to help improve global surgery.

The Gradian Model

Whether you live in New York or Nairobi, London or Lagos, medical equipment should be designed appropriately, serviced locally, and used effectively. To ensure that happens, they’ve established in-country distribution networks to support their products wherever they work. Their approach is guided by a philosophy that healthcare is often only as good as the providers and equipment needed to deliver it, so they've built a business model around four interconnected offerings:

1) Technology
2) Distribution
3) Product Training
4) Servicing & Repairs