Siemens Medical names new chief for U.S. subsidiary as Dumke retires

Parent group to cut 1200 jobs in restructuring

U.S. imaging vendor Siemens Medical Systems will see the departurethis month of the second high-ranking executive to leave the companythis year when president Robert Dumke retires effective March31. Dumke's replacement, Thomas McCausland, will officially takeover the next day.

McCausland, who joined the company in 1986, most recently servedas vice president of sales and marketing at Siemens Energy &Automation of Atlanta, a position he held since 1992. The choiceof McCausland, who holds an undergraduate degree in electricalengineering and a masters in business administration, may marka change in the way that Siemens addresses the healthcare marketplacein the U.S. The new approach will be oriented toward helping hospitalsmaximize efficiency, said Siemens spokesperson Allen Miller.

"We're going to go out to chief executives of hospitals andhospital chains and say that we've got a new way to look at thismarketplace, a way that they can substantially increase theirthroughput, reduce their costs, and improve healthcare at thesame time," he said.

Dumke's departure follows the resignation earlier this year ofThomas Miller, group vice president of imaging systems at theIselin, NJ, subsidiary (SCAN 1/8/97). Neither Dumke nor McCauslandwas available for comment in time for publication.

Dumke stepped into a tough job when he joined Siemens in October1993. Not only was the medical imaging industry in the throesof a major downturn, but Siemens had run into trouble with theFood and Drug Administration regarding good manufacturing practices(GMPs) at three of its manufacturing plants: ultrasound in Issaquah,WA; patient monitoring in Danvers, MA; and radiation oncologyin Concord, CA (SCAN 3/2/94). Siemens voluntarily suspended U.S.shipments from all three plants until the facilities were broughtinto compliance with the FDA's GMP rules.

Dumke guided Siemens through that period, and helped the divisionmaintain its strong position in the U.S. market. Along with Miller,he also helped Siemens develop new businesses, like its ManagedHealthcare Services unit, that are designed to help hospitalsmake their work-flow processes more efficient.

As Dumke leaves the company, however, Siemens is again at a crossroads.Its parent unit, Siemens Medical Engineering Group of Erlangen,Germany, is in the process of a restructuring in which it is shedding1200 jobs from its facilities in Erlangen and in Forchheim, acity near Erlangen.

Siemens plans to complete the restructuring by September 1998,said Erich Reinhardt, chairman of Siemens Medical Engineering,in an interview at this month's European Congress of Radiologymeeting in Vienna. The company hopes to accomplish the personnelreductions through early retirement and voluntary separation packages,but will resort to layoffs if necessary.

While Siemens has posted respectable financial results in recentperiods, the restructuring is necessary because the Medical EngineeringGroup has made advances in operating more efficiently, but hasnot reduced personnel levels in concert with the improvements,according to Reinhardt.

"If you optimize the internal work flow, but the overallwork is not significantly growing, it means you can do the sameamount of work with less people," Reinhardt said. "Thisis an ongoing process to adapt the manpower to the business wehave."