We have been building life saving devices for 38 years. The company was founded in St. Paul Minnesota in 1976. We’ve had two key avenues of growth: one is creating a quality product and expanding sales globally (an example is our mechanical heart valve that we sold exclusively for the first 18 years of the company); the second avenue is thru acquisition of product technologies that have grown our core business.
Over the years we have grown our revenue from $36,520 to 5.5 billion dollars through innovation and acquisition.
SAY: In May 2012, St. Jude Medical implanted its 2 millionth mechanical heart valve. This video shares the story of St. Jude’s early years, the pioneer doctors who studied and implanted our heart valves, and the patients whose lives we have saved.
Click on the Play button to view the video
ASK: Does anyone know the story of how SJM got its name? The company was named for St. Jude, a patron saint believed by some to be a beacon of hope during difficult times. The company’s founder had a son with a life-threatening heart condition and prayed to St. Jude that his son would be helped. When his son recovered, he named the new company in honor of St. Jude.