"2021 WAS A YEAR OF AFFIRMATION FOR ORALMED LABORATORIES"

An assessment by Raúl Fernandes, Director of OralMED Laboratories

Following a year still heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with Raúl Fernandes, Director of the now four laboratory production units of the OralMED Health Group. We took stock of the challenges faced, strategies implemented to overcome them, and expectations for 2022.

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Raúl Fernandes, Director of OralMED Laboratories

How do you evaluate the year 2021 for OralMED Laboratories?

- The year 2020 was undoubtedly a year of learning as there were many obstacles to overcome. At that time, our internal production situation was demanding, and the team was focused on responding to all the needs requested by the Clinics.

The pandemic forced the closure of the Laboratories from March 16 to May 10, 2020, two months during which the Laboratories were not operating, causing enormous disruption to our work. When we returned on May 11, it was challenging. We started with reduced teams, which gradually increased, and there was a need to create new protocols and carry out a profound internal reorganization.

We started 2021 much more capable and with enormous motivation and conviction to face any and all challenges. I would say that 2021 was a year of affirmation for OralMED Laboratories.

How did you manage to maintain team motivation after the difficulties experienced in 2020?

- After the return, an extra injection of confidence was necessary. The Administration needed to take measures for the benefit of the OralMED Health Group, and these measures were explained so that the teams understood they were our best options to ensure the functioning of different areas. However, these measures did not prevent some breakdown in the unity felt within the Laboratories. Although we had difficult days in the second half of 2020, I believe we ended the year positively with the group recovered and more cohesive.

I think closing 2020 on a positive note, of overcoming, meant that in 2021 we could count on more motivated teams, capable of giving the best responses and with a redoubled spirit of unity. Even with the obstacles common to all sectors, such as the need for some employees to isolate throughout 2021, we undoubtedly managed to achieve the best year for OralMED Laboratories.

2021 was also a year of expansion for OralMED laboratories. How has the Alfena laboratory been functioning in these months since its opening, and what expectations do you have for the coming months?

- In 2021, we were finally able to follow through on a project that was already in its final stages before the pandemic: the opening of the 4th Laboratory of the OralMED Health Group, an inauguration that was scheduled for April 2020.

This new unit meant the possibility of continuing all the work we had been developing. And it was essential to ensure the response to the current prosthetic needs of the group's more than 60 clinical units.

The OralMED Alfena Laboratory has now been operating for about six months. It has a team composed of prosthesis technicians who already worked in the group and professionals who were previously welcomed at the OralMED Canelas Laboratory, in order to streamline the implementation of procedures and facilitate the transfer of knowledge to new hires. The expectations for the future are excellent: currently, we are the largest Fixed Prosthesis Laboratory in Portugal, and we want to continue growing. We will continue to do so consciously and rigorously, above all, with the utmost professionalism, as this way of operating best characterizes the entire structure of OralMED Laboratories.

About the OralMED Health Group

The OralMED Health Group is the first Portuguese group specialized in Dental Medicine. With over 12 years of experience and a leader in the sector, it already has more than 60 own clinical units, four dedicated laboratories, and an integrated contact center.