Changes underway at KCI

SAN ANTONIO - In the wake of its buyout last November, Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI) has begun to restructure.

In February, KCI announced that it had laid off 127 employees--mostly in its San Antonio office, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The layoffs account for about 5% of the company's San Antonio workforce.

"With the changing landscape in healthcare, and with an eye toward the future, we need to match our workforce to the needs of the business and our customers," said the company in a statement.

In January, KCI announced a new management structure, overseen by new Board of Directors Chairman Ronald Matricaria, a healthcare industry veteran with nearly four decades in the industry. From 1993 to 2002, he served as president and CEO and then chairman of St. Jude Medical, Inc., a cardiovascular device company, according to a statement on the company's website.

Also in January, KCI announced that it was seeking "strategic alternatives" for its therapeutic support systems business, including possibly selling the division, which rents and sells hospital beds, mattress replacement systems, overlays and patient mobility devices.

Then, on March 1, the company said it had won a three-year contract for its negative pressure wound therapy products. KCI will serve as the single source of its V.A.C. Therapy products for Novation, a healthcare supply contracting company with more than 65,000 members and affiliates.

KCI was acquired in November by London-based private equity firm Apax Partners for $6.1 billion.