Al Merritt has spent the last 13 years building his MD International medical device distribution company into a powerhouse under the mission statement of "improving health care in developing countries by providing appropriate and reliable products and services."

With the grand opening earlier this month of his $5 million, 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Doral, MD International may very well lay claim to being the nation's largest independent distributor of medical devices to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Merritt, the chief executive officer and founder of the company, says that while traveling Latin America as a sales representative for another firm he saw a need for a good, ethical company to bring medical technology to the area.

"The big international companies ­ Johnson & Johnson, 3M, GE, Hewlett-Packard, Phillips, companies of that caliber ­ can afford to have their own offices in all of those countries," said Merritt. "There was a need by the smaller medical companies to have a conduit to bring their technology down there."

Merritt, 40, started MD International in 1987 with a staff of three and 600 square feet of office space in West Kendall, a far cry from the spacious, ultra-modern facility he just built on the edge of the Everglades at 11300 NW 41 Street and moved the company's operations and 80 employees into.

"We were spread out into six different areas and the idea was to bring everything under one roof," Merritt explained.

The new MD International building

houses the company's design and architectural department, technical services, the Internet and communications section, warehousing for shipping and storing, and the sales and marketing department. The focus of the building is the product showroom, where a state-of-the-art operating theater with equipment from all over the world is the centerpiece. Individual rooms flank a stainless steel reception area, each housing the equipment to demonstrate the latest in medical marvels for visiting physicians.

"A lot of our effort is to teach physicians and distributors in Latin America about new medical technology, new devices that cure disease, that diagnose diseases at an earlier stage," said Merritt. "We teach the physicians how to use the product and we teach their bio-medical engineers how to install it, service it and maintain it. It doesn't do any good to buy a beautiful piece of equipment like an operating theater if it's broken in three months because it needs a fuse or because someone wasn't trained how to operate it properly.

"Over the years, we've brought thousands of physicians and technicians here to do training programs," he continued. "That's why we built a training facility right into the building."

Merritt -- who resides in Pinecest with his wife, Patricia, and three children -- says MD International not only sells and distributes medical devices, but also consults on a client's needs, helps them plan and design a hospital, clinic or surgery facility, then assists in arranging financing and works closely with a contractor in the construction of the project.

"MD International brings medical technology solutions to Latin America and the Caribbean," Merritt said. "Those solutions are medical devices and delivery systems, such as the design of hospitals and clinics, as well as the renovation of those facilities, to provide better health care."

And that may be only the beginning for the ambitious Merritt, who is seriously contemplating other markets.

"We are planning on expanding our services into Africa and East European countries," he revealed. "In fact, we've already started some of those activities. The same health-care solutions for a developing country in Latin America are often appropriate for a developing country in Africa, eastern Europe or the Middle East."

In spite of his heavy business schedule, Merritt still finds time for civic and community involvement. He and his family attend Kendall United Methodist Church and he is actively involved with the board of directors of the Greater Miami Symphony Orchestra. He contributes regularly to send children to YMCA summer camp and is a member of Big City Mountaineers.

"We take inner-city and underprivileged kids on outdoor adventure trips," Merritt said. "We took eight kids to the boundary waters of Minnesota last summer. All of the youngsters were convicted felons who were turning their lives around, so it was a pretty interesting trip. And, it was a lot of fun."

Meantime, at Merritt's request, MD International this year was a Pacesetter company with United Way.

"United Way is great," said Merritt. "That's the way to really help the community."