January 10, 2007
Sunrise Medical, maker of the DeVilbiss line of CPAP products, welcomed Hymie Pogir, a well known expert in home medical equipment (HME), as its new senior vice president of marketing and program development.
Pogir was formerly with the Longmont, Colo, company’s competitor Invacare of Elyria, Ohio. He, along with Tiago da Silva, who has been hired as senior vice president of sales, will report to Sunrise CEO Michael N. Hammes. Carey Winkel, who has held the position of president of commercial operations for North America over the last three and a half years, will move back to her previous role of senior vice president of strategic planning, supporting Hammes with crucial strategic initiatives.
In the internal communication to the associates, Hammes explained “On both sides of the Atlantic, and especially in North America, major changes are occurring in the Durable Medical Products (DME) industry. Many of these external changes are quite significant and impactful (e.g. the continuing strong emergence of China as a major producer of DME products, the huge change process the public health care system in America is going thru, etc.). Because of the strategic and operational actions we have taken over the last 3-5 years, we believe that Sunrise today is the best positioned company in the global DME industry, BUT if we are to maintain and build upon the successes that we have had and are continuing to have then we must be prepared to continue to make appropriate changes in a timely manner and to strengthen our ability to continue to be the leaders in our industry.”
Hammes went on to explain, “The timing of being able to bring Hymie to the team and work side by side with a real professional like Tiago da Silva is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It also allows me to bring Carey back to a role that the company really needs her leadership and focus on.”
Sunrise Medical products are manufactured in North America, Europe, and Asia and distributed in more than 100 countries around the world. For more information regarding the company, visit www.sunrisemedical.com.
