In the News

Misonix Integration #3: Our People, The Best People

Brooke M. Ferrar, Director of Commercial Engagement

As it relates to integration, the last few months have been focused on our largest asset: our people! With that being said, there are several people from the Misonix team who have quickly made an impact with Bioventus.

Earlier this month Ken Reali hosted the annual Employee Awards ceremony, and recognized people across the organization for their efforts (most of whom have gone above and beyond) and thank them for their service. From Misonix specifically, there were three people who were honored during the ceremony:

• Leora Kurtyka – known for “the most incredible attitude of any employee”, she has the ability find positives in some of the most unfortunate situations. She has also taken feedback or mistakes and uses them as a way to train and improve processes for all parties involved. Additionally, when there were issues with a backorder, she took it upon herself to make sure there were organized lists of exact inventory, when new inventory would be available, and an extremely fair way of distributing the inventory we had. UPMC, a large healthcare system, have commented on that we have the nicest and most helpful customer service. That sort of feedback begins with special people like Leora!
• Joseph Taormina – his innate ability to build relationships based on mutual respect and collaboration, tenacity to work through issues and calm, focused demeanor, make him a highly respected and trusted team member. His team is responsible for launching all electronic updates required for the successful ultrasonic instruments like Nexus, BoneScalpel Access and SonaStar Elite products. The successful launch of Nexus console required Joseph’s intense efforts both during development and release, in addition to manufacturing and field support for the years following its commercialization. His intimate knowledge of technology made him a perfect fit for developing an effective and highly successful remote training program for OUS service centers, including travel to China to support technology transfers of legacy products. His professionalism and dedication to the successful resolution of all challenges is a true game changer.
• Lawrence Agtuca – his willingness to look beyond what was already implemented and working, to think of fulfilling a company need in a more efficient way, enabled his significant achievements in the past several months. He is responsible for bringing to life a comprehensive strategy for managing labels, label prints and some packaging prints  for both sterile and non-sterile products. This innovation unlocked significant time savings and is completed in a highly efficient format. The change he introduced allowed engineering resources to shift focus back to innovating and commercializing our world-class surgical instruments.

On the same day as the Employee Awards, a special program was wrapping up in Bluffton, South Carolina. The Misonix President’s Club winners were treated to an all-expenses paid trip to Montage Palmetto Bluff, a luxurious retreat located in the heart of the Lowcountry. The individuals, representing the Wound and Surgical business from Misonix, were in the top 5-10% of their respective selling teams and truly represent “the best of the best”. Their hard work was celebrated throughout the duration of the program and hopefully is a motivating factor in them returning to the top of the President’s Club leaderboard. A few attendees shared their thoughts on the experience:

“Grateful, humbled, celebrated and pampered! I am so honored to have had the experience. Life is about making memories and the memories my son and I have will be at the top of a long list of adventures.” – Julie Botten, Regional Sales Manager (Wound)

“The President’s Club trip to Palmetto Bluff was truly a once in a lifetime experience. A few days of amazing service that felt like we were living in the lap of luxury! An absolutely incredible experience with not only beautiful views and activities, but wonderful people I had the pleasure of getting to know.” – D’Arcy Devine, Sales Representative (Surgical)

Congratulations to the following winners:

• Surgical
  • Marlo Cervi
  • Alex Conner
  • D’Arcy Devine
  • Brittani Gardella
  • Tim Pham
• Wound
  • Julie Botten
  • Lance Canington
  • Heather Driver
  • Tim Kamps
  • Wayne Lydon
  • Chad Noonan
  • Rich Sokolowski
  • Sarah White

Another group of people that deserves a shout out is the crew that recently went above and beyond to close down the Newport News, Virginia office. The heavy lift was led by Barry Mitchell and Kevin Griffin. They were assisted by the following people who stepped outside of their normal day-to-day responsibilities, all of which were greatly appreciated: Bonnie Fortin, Anthony Frisa, Leora Kurtyka, Andrew Tosdevin, Lynn Watkins and Mike Weber.

Finally, to round out the integration activities in June, a culture workshop, led by external facilitators from Spencer Stuart, walked the leadership team from Misonix through a variety of discussions regarding our culture and implementation techniques. Throughout the course of the interactive session, the leaders openly discussed how to drive culture through thinking, behavior and actions. We plan to roll this out to the rest of the organization at the end of Q3.

Each of you are what drives Bioventus’ success and allows us to impact the lives of over 600,000 patients each year. Thank you for your commitment to our future and for being a part of the incredible culture we are building!