A focus on corporate governance has never been more important than in today's business environment, where investor and public confidence in companies is no longer based strictly on financial performance or products and services. Rather, confidence increasingly is based on a company's structure, its board of directors, its policies and guidelines, its culture and the behavior of not only its officers and directors, but also all of its employees.

At Baxter, we take seriously the importance of corporate governance. Our approach is proactive, starting with our board of directors. But it is also deeply ingrained in our corporate culture, guiding how we work and how we do business. We offer you an opportunity to take a closer look at how we apply and adhere to the rules of the road--not just those required by government, but also those we impose on ourselves to meet the highest possible standards.

In 1995, Baxter became one of the first companies to adopt formal corporate governance guidelines, long before corporate America was required to meet today's new standards. Most of the new rules the government now mandates for U.S-based companies are practices we've had in place for years. And at Baxter, re-examining our practices and setting new standards is an ongoing process.

An independent Board of Directors oversees Baxter's management. Working with our Chief Corporate Governance Officer, the board continually discusses Baxter's bylaws and governance practices, changing our policies when necessary and pointing out areas where we need to improve our performance. The board also compares Baxter's practices to the criteria used by outside organizations to evaluate corporate performance.

Baxter is proud of its strong commitment to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance. We hope you will take some time to review this section of our website to see how we take those words and turn them into action. That's how we do business at Baxter.