Improving Women’s Health Worldwide Through a Passion for Quality and Innovation
For over a decade, Dicxinia (Dixie) Flores has been a passionate and dedicated employee at Establishment Labs. Her career at the global company, which specializes in high-tech medical devices and aesthetics, began as a quality inspector. Over her long tenure, she has filled several vital roles in quality and is currently the Quality Systems Supervisor and acting Quality Systems Manager.
When Flores joined Establishment Labs, it was the first Costa Rican company to enter the medical device industry. She was thrilled to be working for an organization that contributed to women’s health. “We manufacture high quality and safe body and breast implants for aesthetics and reconstructive surgeries, and every day I do something to help improve the lives of women worldwide.”
Most reconstructive surgeries are due to cancer treatments, and Flores is proud to be behind the scenes in ensuring manufacturing, design, and regulatory quality and compliance. “I could have worked in other departments, but I have always felt that I could make the most difference where I am.”
From the executive leadership flowing down to each team member, the focus is on innovation and patient safety. Flores works to promote a quality culture on her team through collaboration, training and providing the tools necessary for her people to contribute effectively.
“A quality mindset is the key. This means doing the right thing in the moment and seeing the importance of your actions in the big picture—that everything you do, no matter how large or small, influences people’s lives.”
Flores played a critical role in helping Establishment Labs migrate from a paper-based quality system to a cloud-based eQMS system. “We needed more control, efficiency, and transparency, and chose ComplianceQuest to help us transition our processes to a digital system.”
The move to an electronic quality system was a huge success for the company, and this was particularly emphasized during the pandemic. The platform is accessible to the team worldwide, and quality processes are synchronized and aligned throughout the business. “If we had been on a paper-based system during the pandemic, we would have faced many challenges, but because we had transitioned to ComplianceQuest, we could conduct business as usual.”
Flores, who helped lead the implementation, was pleased with the results and is looking forward to what the future holds. Her goal is to be a manager in a more permanent capacity and to help increase the company’s impact. “Quality plays a role in all processes, and I want to contribute with my skills, knowledge, and experience. By always having the end-user, the patient in mind, I know I can contribute to change lives.”
Her advice to others is, “What you do daily is not just a task or a job. It’s a contribution that can have lasting results for other people. Always be passionate, keep this in your heart and mind, and work every day to live up to the high bar you’ve set for yourself.”
