(From left to right) Pete Yonkman, President and John Kamstra CFO of Cook Group and Cook Medical congratulates Joy Choi, Chief Operating Officer, Cook Korea on a 10-year milestone of successful customer service, innovation, and employee development.
Seoul, Korea — Cook Medical Korea celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a special event that marked a major milestone – a decade of successful customer service, innovation, and employee development.
Back in 2000, Cook Korea first opened in the country as a distributor partner, before progressing to direct sales in a gradual transition. The Cook Korea company as we now know it was established in 2009. Ten years later, the company is now well known for its ability to serve patients better through direct interactions with physicians.
Pete Yonkman, President, Cook Group and Cook Medical, said during the anniversary celebration, ‘We are incredibly proud of our office in Korea. The team here is committed to patients and to providing customers in Korea with the medical devices they need. They have fully embraced our company values, by engaging with their local community, encouraging their employee development, and working together to overcome the challenges that face medical device companies everywhere. I look forward to seeing what this team is capable of over the next ten years and beyond’.
Cook Korea celebrates a decade of commitment to local staff and community with a traditional drum performance.
Cook Korea covers a wide range of business lines including reproductive health, urology, endoscopy and interventional radiology. It was the first medical device company in Korea to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology across consignment locations for all products. This advanced technology provides an efficient and accurate solution to count large volumes with greater traceability and better inventory management.
When the company started its sales and operations in 2010, there were only 20 people. Now there are 80 based in Seoul to support the fast-growing business with more than 1,100 products and over 40 product family lines across Korea. The company’s patient first culture has transparent communication at its foundation. Employee development is a crucial part to foster such culture that includes language training, to clinical, professional, and educational studies.
‘We are very proud of our employees here in Korea, and they continue to tell us how satisfied they are to work with us’, said Joy Choi, Chief Operating Officer, Cook Korea. ‘We have achieved extremely high staff retention rate over the last few years mainly due to the strong team spirit where we all take care of each other. Together, we manage consignment inventories in more than 300 locations, including hospitals, where we put respect and communication at the heart of our working community. Going forward, we will continue to work together towards the success of the company’.
Cook Korea has grown from 20 to 80 employees in the past 10 years to support the fast-growing business with more than 1,100 products and over 40 product family lines across the country.
Due to an expansion, Cook Korea moved offices in 2015 in order to fully cater for its employee’s lifestyle needs. The office creates an environment where personal wellbeing is embraced. This included recreation areas, nursing rooms, and panoramic views of Youido.
Giving back is an important part of Cook Medical culture across the globe including Korea. The organisation supports the community through a variety of fund-raising and volunteer activities. For example, they organise regular volunteering work for employees to take care of orphan babies at the Eastern Social Welfare Association before their adoption. They also raise funds through in-house cafe and gift donation during the holiday season.
About Cook Medical
Since 1963, Cook Medical has worked closely with physicians to develop technologies that eliminate the need for open surgery. Today we are combining medical devices, biologic materials, and cellular therapies to help the world’s healthcare systems deliver better outcomes more efficiently. We have always remained family owned so that we have the freedom to focus on what we care about: patients, our employees, and our communities. Find out more at our Asia-Pacific regional website, and for the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.