Stryker's Kevin Lobo, Dexcom's Kevin Sayer talk diversity, COVID-19; also more on Medtronic deal

This week’s DeviceTalks Weekly podcast episode talks with industry leaders about improving worker diversity and developing new ways to treat COVID-19 patients. Kevin Lobo, chairman and CEO of Stryker, explains how his company – and the industry group AdvaMed – has been working  to increase diversity of its workforce, particularly in senior and sales positions. Lobo is serving a two-year term as chairman of AdvaMed. In this interview, Lobo speaks specifically to how Stryker is tracking progress, where it has come up short, and how it’s working to help workers identify their own biases. Lobo also says Stryker is poised to regain momentum after the pandemic. Next, Kevin Sayer, executive chairman, CEO and president of Dexcom, says the company’s continuous glucose monitors are finding a home in hospitals as they help monitor the health of COVID-19 patients. Sayer says the company’s monitors have helped keep patients, especially diabetics, off ventilators and allowed them to get discharged more quickly. What’s next for Dexcom? “We think this is an important market for us, not just COVID-wise,” Sayer says. Finally, Raj Denhoy, equity research analyst at Jefferies, breaks down private equity group Blackstone’s investment in Medtronic’s diabetes line. Why would the medtech giant take outside money? Is this something we’ll see more of in medtech? Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to DeviceTalks Weekly on your podcast players.