Wanchoo departs Agfa for GE's PACS division

Wanchoo departs Agfa for GE's PACS division

GE Medical Systems late last month again demonstrated its commitment to PACS by luring digital image management veteran Vishal Wanchoo away from his position as vice president of marketing for Agfa Medical. Although GEMS declined official comment, sources close to the Milwaukee company say that Wanchoo has been named general manager of GE's Integrated Imaging Solutions division and will report directly to GEMS president Jeffrey Immelt.

Anthony Lombardo, global general manager of IIS, will also shift positions. He reportedly has been tapped as general manager of IIS Americas sales and reports to Paul Mirabella, GE's vice president and general manager, Americas sales division.

Agfa has not yet named a replacement for Wanchoo, whose last day at the company was Nov. 21. In the meantime, senior marketing manager Bob Cooke will assume some of Wanchoo's responsibilities, with the rest divided among the Impax team at Agfa.

The loss of Wanchoo, who has assumed various roles in Agfa's PACS division since the early '90s, will surely be felt. He has been widely credited as one of the key architects in developing Agfa's strong market position.

The hiring of Wanchoo is a coup for GEMS, which has devoted substantial resources to its IIS division this year, especially with the acquisition of Lockheed Martin Medical Imaging Systems (PNN 5/97). Wanchoo's extensive marketing and engineering experience in PACS should prove invaluable to GEMS as it looks to grow its market share.