Newswatch: March 2006

On the Move

Jonathan Elion

Agfa HealthCare (Ridgefield Park, NJ) has appointed Jonathan Elion, MD, as CMO, a newly created position in which he will provide clinical insight and strategic direction for the company's growing medical division. Elion has been the medical director and co-founder of Heartlab and has a long career in clinical cardiology, medical computing, and business. Agfa acquired Heartlab in 2005 as part of the company's strategy to expand its enterprise solutions for healthcare.

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO of Fairfax, Va) has hired three individuals to bolster its healthcare policy and research efforts. Debra Lansey, now the assistant director of healthcare policy, will provide comments to regulatory bodies, disseminate information to ASTRO members, and provide managed care expertise to the ASTRO Healthcare Policy Council. Additionally, Alan Gay has joined ASTRO as program manager for research. Gay most recently served as a program analyst for a radiation therapy and dosimetry consulting organization and has also worked as a dosimetry technician. Finally, Omari W. Keeles has been appointed research and health policy analyst, in which he will be spearheading a new initiative on technology assessment. ASTRO also has added two new members to its government relations department. Emily Wilson has been hired as ASTRO's government relations representative; she will be responsible for the society's lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill in addition to working with ASTRO members to develop grassroots efforts in their home states. Amanda Sarata brings a wealth of healthcare experience to her new post as ASTRO's senior policy analyst. Sarata will work on federal legislative and regulatory issues affecting radiation oncology to include cancer quality care and nuclear regulatory concerns.

Corindus (Auburndale, Mass) has appointed John E. Ahern to its board of directors. President and CEO of NMT Medical Inc (Boston), Ahern was chosen based on his experience in the medical device industry in addition to his success in building and guiding new companies.

DMS Health Group (Fargo, ND) has announced two leadership appointments. Paul Wilson has been named CEO of the company, and Nat Geissel has been promoted to president of DMS Health Technologies, a primary business unit of the company. Wilson previously was the CEO at Innovis Health (Fargo, ND), and Geissel has been senior VP of DMS Health Technologies since 2000.

Encentuate Inc (Foster City, Calif) has named Thomas F. Kelly as its CEO. A technology industry veteran with more than 26 years experience working in various executive leadership roles for software start-ups to billion-dollar technology companies, Kelly replaces company founder Peng Ong.

GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wis) has announced the promotion of Mark Vachon to the position of president and CEO of the company's diagnostic imaging business. Vachon replaces Reinaldo Garcia, who has been promoted to president and CEO of GE Healthcare – International. Vachon is a career veteran of GE and a GE officer with a variety of commercial, marketing, and financial experience.

Radlink Inc (Redondo Beach, Calif) has moved into a new Redondo Beach headquarters to accommodate the company's growth. The new Radlink office and warehouse—located at 2400 Marine Ave, Redondo Beach, CA 90278—now encompasses more than 30,000 square feet, and boasts two conference rooms and an audio-visual training room that can hold up to 45 people. The training room will be used to teach Radlink dealers how to service their products.

Richardson Electronics Ltd (LaFox, Ill) has appointed Arthur Buckland as its president and COO as well as a board member. Buckland replaces Bruce Johnson, current president and COO, who announced his retirement. Buckland's accomplishments include the award of Entrepreneur of the Year from NASDAQ, E&Y, and others for his role as chairman, CEO, and president of Clare Inc.

Sonora Medical Systems (Longmont, Colo) has promoted Donald Patterson to director of strategic accounts and global sourcing. Patterson, who joined Sonora in 1998 as its B2B sales manager, has been successfully involved in the diagnostic ultrasound market for more than 20 years.