Halyard Health, Inc., today announced that Robert E. Abernathy will retire as CEO, effective June 26, 2017. The board of directors has appointed Joseph F. Woody to succeed Abernathy. Woody has also been elected to serve on the board of directors and Abernathy will continue as chairman of the board.
"On behalf of the board and Halyard employees, we are grateful for Robert's dedicated leadership these past three plus years," said Ronald W. Dollens, Halyard's independent lead director. "During his tenure, Robert re-established Halyard's innovative culture and positioned the company for future growth."
"Leading Halyard has been an incredible journey," said Abernathy. "I'm honored to have been part of this extraordinary team and thank everyone for their commitment to Halyard. Together, we've accelerated growth in our medical devices business, generated greater than expected free cash flow, and met or exceeded earnings analysts' expectations the past seven quarters."
"Halyard is successfully executing its transformation and we're confident that we'll continue to do so under Joe's leadership," Dollens continued. "Joe is an experienced healthcare CEO with proven success driving revenue growth and spearheading portfolio transformations. He brings the laser focus needed to propel Halyard forward in this fast-paced industry."
"I'm thrilled to be joining Halyard. This talented team is poised to capitalize on the incredible opportunities that lie before us," said Woody. "We will continue to accelerate the execution of our transformation strategy."
"We're pleased the board identified Joe to succeed Robert. We're excited Joe is joining us and we're fully optimistic about the future of Halyard," Dollens concluded.
Woody's entire career has been in the medical technology industry. Most recently he served as president and CEO of Acelity. He has also served in several board positions.
About Halyard Health
Halyard Health Inc. (NYSE: HYH) is a medical technology company focused on eliminating pain, speeding recovery and preventing infection for healthcare providers and their patients. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., Halyard is committed to addressing some of today's most important healthcare needs, such as reducing the use of opioids while helping patients move from surgery to recovery and preventing healthcare-associated infections. Halyard's business segments - Medical Devices and Surgical and Infection Prevention (S&IP) - develop, manufacture and market clinically superior solutions that improve medical outcomes and business performance in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit www.halyardhealth.com.
