St. Jude Medical Promotes Michael Rousseau To COO - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Medical equipment maker St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) announced organizational and leadership changes. The company will integrate its two operating divisions into one integrated research and development organization, and will combine manufacturing and supply chain operations worldwide.

Michael Rousseau, previously group president of the company, has been promoted to chief operating officer. Rousseau will now oversee sales, marketing, quality, technology development, operations and supply chain on a global basis.

Eric Fain, previously president, Implantable Electronic Systems Division or IESD, has been promoted to group president of the company and will now oversee all clinical, regulatory and research and development activities across the company.

The company said that over the next several months, Fain will lead the integration of IESD and the Cardiovascular and Ablation Technologies Division or CATD into one cohesive St. Jude Medical research and development organization.

St. Jude Medical Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Starks said, "One reason 2013 was such a successful year for us was that we streamlined our organization, improved productivity, and reduced costs through organizational changes we announced in August 2012. The changes we announced today will help us build on that success to further leverage our scale, align on our highest priorities and improve execution of our long-term growth program."

In addition, Scott Thome is being promoted to the newly created position of vice president, global operations and supply chain; Lisa Andrade has been promoted to chief marketing officer; and Jeff Dallager has been promoted to vice president, corporate controller.

The firm also announced that Frank Callaghan, previously president, CATD, has decided to retire. Callaghan has been an integral part of the St. Jude Medical leadership team since joining St. Jude Medical in 2005 as part of the Endocardial Solutions acquisition. He will remain an advisor to the company through 2014.