Operations Will Continue As Usual At Virtus

Hill-Rom purchased local supplier Virtus this week.
Hill-Rom purchased local supplier Virtus this week.

Operations at Virtus in Batesville will continue as usual for the foreseeable future, a Hill-Rom spokesman said Friday morning.

Hill-Rom has been the supplier’s largest customer and the acquisition has advantages for both companies, said a Valerie Finarty, vice president of supply chain operations for Hill-Rom.

“The folks at the Virtus operation are experts at what they do. They have a ton of knowledge, a ton of experience, and I am just thrilled to have them as part of the Batesville operations team at Hill-Rom,” Finarty said.

Virtus has been in business locally since 1998 and currently employs around 100 workers. The company manufactures hospital bed surfaces and other components for healthcare products.

Associates at Virtus were notified of the purchase this week. Moving forward, both companies will work together and develop a plan to integrate both operations. Production will continue as usual for now, Finarty indicated.

“Short term, we have no plans, it going to be business as usual. We have no plans to move any production from that site,” said Finarty.

“Over time there may be some changes back and forth between the operations because we do have some surface production already at the Selke Plant. Short term we are not planning any changes to the production schedule.”

What does the acquisition mean for current Virtus employees?

The employees became Hill-Rom associates as of April 1. Human resource activities, such as payroll and insurance enrollment, will take place over the course of time, Finarty added.

“We are going to need them to continue exactly what they are doing. They deliver surfaces or components to Hill-Rom on a daily basis,” Finarty said. “So we need them to continue that and focus on that. If there are any changes we will make sure we give people plenty of advance notice of anything.”

Larry Baumann, executive director for global communications at Hill-Rom said, “The surfaces and products that Virtus makes, are key products for Hill-Rom and for our customers, these critical technologies are important and have a need for these long term moving forward.”

“It is also a nice opportunity for us to expand our presence and our employee base in Batesville,” Baumann added.