Gish Biomedical Inc., a publicly traded medical device maker, moved from its longtime Irvine base to a 51,000-square-foot building in Rancho Santa Margarita this month. The device maker’s new facility, at 22942 Arroyo Vista, houses administrative and manufacturing functions.
Gish moved to Rancho Santa Margarita for several reasons, according to Kelly Scott, president and chief executive. “One was purely economic. We were in a building that was far too large ,it was 155,000 square feet,” Scott said, adding that the device maker could not find a location that suited its needs within Irvine.
Scott said that the move to the smaller space is not the result of any downsizing at the company. Rather, he said, the firm originally leased the large Irvine space for a low rate during the early-’90s recession.
Another reason cited by Scott is that Gish is building a “medical-class cleanroom” at the new facility that will have ISO and European certification. He said that he hopes the cleanroom will be ready in two to three weeks.
The cleanroom and move, however, won’t change Gish’s business much, Scott said. He said Gish does some contract manufacturing, but its main focus remains manufacturing and distributing medical products.
“Also, we like Rancho Santa Margarita. It’s a growing area,” said Scott, a University of Southern California alumnus who joined Gish in May. Scott, a 22-year biomedical industry veteran, was managing director of Sorin Asia prior to coming to Gish.
Gish, founded in 1976, employs around 160 overall, 140 of them in Orange County. Before moving to Rancho Santa Margarita, it occupied facilities in Irvine and Santa Ana.
Gish designs, manufactures, and markets disposable medical devices for surgical specialties. All of the company’s products are either single-use disposable products or have a disposable component. Gish products include custom cardiovascular tubing systems, blood reservoirs, cardioplegia delivery systems and oxygenators. n
