Healthcare Industry News: IDx
News Release - January 2, 2008
Hill-Rom Reinforces its Focus on Growth in North America and Internationally with Key Appointments
BATESVILLE, Ind., Jan. 2 (HSMN NewsFeed) -- Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HB ) today announced two key appointments for its Hill-Rom subsidiary, a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of medical technologies and related services for the health care industry. Jeff Kao will assume new responsibilities as President, North America Acute Care, and Greg Tucholski has been promoted to the position of President, International and Surgical. Both will continue to report directly to Peter H. Soderberg, president and CEO of Hillenbrand Industries and of Hill-Rom. These appointments are effective today.Kao will assume leadership for all business in North America related to Hill-Rom's core acute care products and services, including patient support systems (hospital beds and integrated surfaces), patient environment products and the Hill-Rom IT Solutions business. In addition, marketing and applied product development for these businesses will now report to Kao. He also will continue to manage Hill-Rom's North American sales force, including national accounts and clinical support services, aligning all critical components for this core business area under one leader.
Tucholski will continue to have responsibility for all aspects of Hill-Rom's international business, including sales, marketing, service and applied product development. He will be charged with continuing the double digit growth of Hill-Rom's international business. Hill-Rom's international product sales currently represent about 22 percent of the company's total revenue and grew 25 percent in 2007. Hill-Rom's Allen Medical unit, which once again grew at double digit rates in 2007, also will continue to report to Tucholski.
"We have concentrated our core business under Jeff Kao in order to clarify accountability and insure better execution," said Soderberg. "Greg Tucholski's promotion recognizes his fine performance in turning around our International business and strengthening its management team."
Soderberg added, "We have formulated a strategy to insure acceleration of growth at Hill-Rom, and we are fortunate to have two dynamic leaders like Jeff and Greg appropriately positioned to lead our two largest business areas in executing this plan."
Tucholski has been with Hill-Rom since 2003. He joined the company as Vice President and General Manager Sales, Americas and Asia Pacific. In 2005, he assumed his most recent role as Group Vice President for International and Surgical. Before Hill-Rom, Tucholski served in leadership roles with Noteworthy Medical Systems in Cleveland, Ohio, and was with General Electric Medical Systems in Milwaukee, Wis., in a variety of roles for 14 years. Tucholski holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Myers College in Cleveland. He currently resides in Batesville, Ind.
Kao joined Hill-Rom in May 2007 in the role of Group Vice President, Sales and IT Solutions. He previously served as President and CEO of a software company owned by Accel-KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts). Before that, he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of a $220 million unit of IDx, a leading health care IT solutions company, where he played a major role in its integration into GE after the acquisition in early 2006. Before that time, Kao spent more than 15 years with various businesses within GE serving in a variety of leadership roles. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Science degree in EECS from the University of California at Berkeley. He currently resides in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area.
ABOUT HILLENBRAND INDUSTRIES, INC.
Hillenbrand Industries is organized into two operating companies serving the health care and funeral services industries.
Hill-Rom is a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of medical technologies and related services for the health care industry, including patient support systems, non-invasive therapeutic products for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions, medical equipment rentals, and workflow information technology solutions. Hill-Rom's comprehensive product and service offerings are used by health care providers across the health care continuum in hospitals, extended care facilities and home care settings to enhance the safety and quality of patient care.
Hill-Rom ... enhancing outcomes for patients and their caregivers.
Batesville Casket Company is a leader in the North American death care industry through the sale of funeral services products, including burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers and urns, selection room display fixturing and other personalization and memorialization products.
Batesville Casket Company ... helping families honor the lives of those they love.
www.hillenbrand.com
Hillenbrand Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's future plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, representations and projections. The Company has tried, wherever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "encourage," "expect," "may," "goal," "become," "pursue," "estimate," "strategy," "will," "projection," "forecast," "continue," "accelerate," "promise," "increase," "higher," "lower," "reduce," "improve," "expand," "progress," "potential" or the negative of those terms or other variations of them or by comparable terminology. The absence of such terms, however, does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. It is important to note that forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those set forth in any forward- looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: the Company's dependence on its relationships with several large national providers and group purchasing organizations, changes in death rates, whether the Company's new products are successful in the marketplace, changes in customers' Medicare reimbursements, collections of accounts receivable, compliance with FDA regulations, antitrust litigation, potential exposure to product liability or other claims, failure of the Company's announced strategic initiatives and restructuring and realignment activities to achieve expected growth, efficiencies or cost reductions, disruptions in the Company's business or other adverse consequences resulting from the planned separation of the Company's two operating companies, failure of the Company to execute its acquisition and business alliance strategy through the consummation and successful integration of acquisitions or entry into joint ventures or other business alliances, competition from nontraditional sources in the funeral services business, volatility of the Company's investment portfolio, increased costs or unavailability of raw materials, labor disruptions, the ability to retain executive officers and other key personnel, and certain tax-related matters. For a more in depth discussion of these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, see the discussions under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2007, which will be filed before the end of November 2007. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Source: Hillenbrand Industries
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