Another medical industry player is moving to Orange County in the hopes of righting its financial ship.
Data Critical Corp., a maker of wireless systems and software for the healthcare industry, is moving from Bothell, Wash., to Tustin, saying it believes the move will help the company achieve profitability by the fourth quarter.
“On the financial side, this company has not historically been profitable,” said Michael Singer, Data Critical’s chief financial officer.
Data Critical posted a net loss of $2.2 million on revenue of $5.7 million in the first quarter, vs. a loss of $2 million on $3.7 million in sales for the year-ago period.
Data Critical’s $11 million acquisition of Tustin’s VitalCom Inc. was the trigger for the move. The deal closed early last month. As part of a company restructuring, Frank T. Sample resigned as head of VitalCom but plans to remain as a Data Critical director and non-executive vice chairman.
In all, Data Critical plans to cut around 60 jobs, or 22% of its work force, take a $3 million restructuring charge and close two facilities in Seattle.
The company plans to have about 210 full-time, part-time and contract workers after the cuts; around 150 of those will be in Tustin, Singer said.
In a release, Data Critical officials indicated the company expects to save $2 million per quarter in the form of reduced payroll and rent.
“The facility in Tustin can absorb a lot of people, processes and products,” Singer said.
Data Critical should be fully based in Tustin by the end of September, Singer said. Right now, the Tustin workforce is made up of old VitalCom employees, along with engineers and manufacturing workers.
In many cases, medical companies that have moved to Orange County have cited the area’s concentration of other such companies as a reason. But Singer’s take is different.
“I would say it is a nice benefit, the number of medical device companies in Southern California,” he said. “But it’s not the overriding reason.”
Data Critical’s products include a Web-based outcomes system for cardiac surgeons and a wireless charting tool for physicians. The company has a division, Paceart, which offers personal computer software to manage the care of cardiac patients.
