1. What is VitalPath?
VitalPath is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that specializes in partnering with medical OEM customers in building high-quality complex catheters used to improve lives and restore patient health and vital function. We’re excited about this important work and bring vital energy to our customer partnerships.
We are experts in advanced catheters and catheter components and partner with our customers to guide them on every step of the product development path, from initial prototyping through to full production ramp.
With our engineers’ deep technical knowledge, well-developed proprietary processes, dedication to following through our commitments, and extensive in-house capabilities, we’re the best-kept secret in the medical device industry.
2. What was your professional journey that led you to working for VitalPath?
I have held leadership positions at both contract manufacturers and OEMs, which has given me both a depth of knowledge of complex catheter-based devices and a unique perspective of our customers’ challenges paired with the needs of the interventionalists performing these life changing procedures.
Before joining VitalPath, I was the Chief Commercial Officer at Prytime Medical Devices, where I helped bring to market a novel balloon catheter for the trauma space. Previously, I was President of QMD, a global medical device outsourcing company specializing in end-to-end services for cardiology, vascular, endosurgical and critical care devices. Prior to that, I spent more than four years as Chief Commercial Officer at Integer, which manufactures critical components for implantable pulse generators, vascular access devices, complex catheters, orthopedics implants and instruments, portable medical power solutions and energy applications. I have also held leadership roles at OEMs including Smith+Nephew, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific.
3. Can you share some things your organization has done that you are most proud of?
At VitalPath, our vision is to create—for our customers and team members—the most impassioned, trusting, and caring experience in complex catheter development and manufacturing. So anytime I hear from a customer or see feedback shared through email, that our team has gone above and beyond with their problem-solving approach and reacted quickly to a customer challenge, I am most proud and know that we are well on our way to achieving our vision.
4. What motivates you as a leader?
In this industry, I think we are all highly motivated by the patients and their families around the world who are positively impacted by the work we do to develop and manufacture MedTech innovations.
On a more personal level, I draw motivation from my family. Most people don’t know this because my last name is English, but my mother was born in Argentina and came to the United States in 1956 by herself to study abroad at the Our Lady of Cincinnati College. She returned just a few years later to take a full-time teaching position and met my father at a language convention. My father was a foreign language professor, also fluent in Spanish, and spent his early career teaching in Cuba before the revolution in 1959. A year later, they married and started a family, and my mother spent her remaining life in the United States. My mother was the rock in our family. I have always been both inspired by and in awe of the unique ability that my mother had to build a community wherever she went. She was a very endearing person and connected with others on a deeper level that helped her build this trusting, close-knit community of friends and family. I try to channel her ability to create a community and inspire a team as I approach my role as a leader at VitalPath as well as in my personal life as I try to instill a similar set of values in my own children.
I also grew up playing basketball all through high school and college, so the team mentality is important to me as a leader. When the whole team is doing well, working together, communicating, and feels successful as a team, then the whole organization does well because usually that means our suppliers and our customers are happy as well. That is the ultimate goal.
5. What advice would you give to aspiring healthcare leaders who are looking to make an impact in this industry?
My former boss and mentor at Integer Holdings taught me a very valuable lesson about leadership: keep your focus on the Macro themes such as markets, customers, disease states, patient needs, surgeon needs, hospital needs, and especially your Company’s Vision, Mission and Values. These should be the key drivers that you reference when making decisions. Device innovations and technologies can change rapidly in this industry. If you’re not focused and intrinsically motivated to achieve your goals, it can feel overwhelming and discouraging. But if you keep your vision, mission, and values as a guide for your everyday decisions, then you can remain focused on your objectives and adapt accordingly to any challenges you may face.
6. How do you see the healthcare industry changing in the next 5-10 years and what is your organization doing to stay ahead of those changes?
I believe the healthcare industry will continue to see further technological advancements to improve the overall patient experience. This will mean earlier, more accurate diagnosis, shorter procedures with minimized recovery times, incorporation of more remote data and digital health to aid in diagnosis, treatment and recovery, etc. The great news for VitalPath is that we are 100% focused on complex catheters and catheter components, which check a lot of those boxes and will be integral to the future of healthcare.
7. How does your company prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in terms of your workforce and the services you offer?
Given my background and upbringing, this topic is naturally important to me. Because I am half Argentinian, I actually spoke Spanish before I spoke English. I was raised in a household where differing backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences were a very real part of our family and contributed to the overall success of our family. For these reasons, I truly believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion is a must because you need those differing backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to have a well-rounded view and be able to effectively innovate and solve problems.
As an organization, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion should be ingrained in the culture vs. a box to be checked on some paperwork. As a CDMO with a mission to deliver exceptional, high-quality complex catheter solutions through impassioned customer relationships, innovative engineering, and operational excellence, it is imperative that we have diversity in backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. We must also cultivate a feeling of inclusion and respect where everyone feels comfortable bringing their thoughts and ideas forward and feels like they have a seat at the table to innovate and improve the organization. That needs to come from the executive leadership team and be felt by all levels of the organization.
8. What do you see as the biggest opportunity and challenge facing the healthcare industry in Medical Alley?
Biggest Opportunity – I would say that the biggest opportunity is the shared mission that we all have of improving lives and what that ultimately means for patients around the world. We have this profound opportunity to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible to make a difference for patients, which is unique to our industry.
Challenge – The biggest challenge facing our industry is how quickly everything changes, from device innovations, novel technologies, to higher patient expectations. OEMs and CDMOs need to keep up with those needs and remain nimble enough to keep up with evolving innovations, which is ultimately a good thing from a patient perspective.
9. What are your hobbies or things you enjoy doing when not at work?
I commute between my home in Cincinnati, Ohio and our offices in the Twin Cities, so I enjoy having the opportunity to be home with my wife, Amy, and our 6 kids. When it comes to hobbies, I enjoy exercising, playing the guitar and I really enjoy cooking (and eating). My specialty is, of course, Argentinian dishes from my mother’s culture, but I also love cooking Italian cuisine.
10. What is your favorite thing about the Medical Alley community?
We are a relatively new partner to Medical Alley and it is because of this ecosystem that we wanted to become a partner. Community is really important to us at VitalPath, in fact, People and Community Engagement is one of our core values.
We value the communities that support our team members and contribute to our mission of improving quality of life for patients around the world. At VitalPath, we do this by delivering exceptional, high-quality complex catheter solutions in partnership with our OEM customers, but we know we are just one piece of the health puzzle. It takes many pieces to improve the quality of life for patients around the world, which is what is so great about this Medical Alley Community – we have a shared mission and we collectively contribute to that greater goal.
