Former Covidien CEO Jose Almeida will become chairman and CEO of Baxter International on Jan. 1.
He will replace retiring CEO Robert Parkinson Jr., who has led the Deerfield, Ill.-based medical products maker since 2004. After a brief transition, Parkinson will become chairman emeritus.
“Joe brings to Baxter tremendous experience in the global medical products marketplace and has a demonstrated record of improving profitability and creating value for all stakeholders,” Parkinson said in a statement. “His deep understanding of the complex global supply chain will be a great strength for the company as he oversees a broad portfolio of medically necessary products across a geographically expansive marketplace. What Joe brings to Baxter in skill and experience is imperative to the company's stated goal of accelerating profitable growth over the near and long term.”
A native of Brazil, Almeida was chairman, president and CEO of Covidien from 2012 to 2015 before it was sold to giant medical device maker Medtronic. He has had leadership roles at Wilson Greatbatch Technologies, American Home Products' Acufex Microsurgical division, and Johnson & Johnson's Professional Products division. He began his career as a management consultant at Andersen Consulting.
The news comes as the company announced that it was shedding 1,400 jobs worldwide — 5 percent of its nonmanufacturing payroll — a few months after spinning off a portion of its business into a new company, Baxalta.
The company's recent third-quarter financial results topped Wall Street estimates, with $2.5 billion in sales worldwide.
