Charles A Laverty

Charles A. Laverty has been elected to the board of directors of Pinnacle Micro Inc., an Irvine recordable CD technology and optical storage systems company. He is chairman and chief executive of Urohealth Systems Inc. in Newport Beach. Laverty succeeds John P. Haynie, president and chief executive of Newport Digital, who did not seek reelection. * Joe Engler has been named public relations director for the Rankin Group Ltd., an Orange advertising, marketing and public relations agency.

Charles A. Laverty has been elected to the board of directors of Pinnacle Micro Inc., an Irvine recordable CD technology and optical storage systems company. He is chairman and chief executive of Urohealth Systems Inc. in Newport Beach. Laverty succeeds John P. Haynie, president and chief executive of Newport Digital, who did not seek reelection. * Joe Engler has been named public relations director for the Rankin Group Ltd., an Orange advertising, marketing and public relations agency.

Charles A. Laverty succeeds by sheer force of personality. When he took over a small biomedical outfit named Davstar last year, the company had losses greater than sales and was a target of shareholder litigation and a government investigation into possible securities laws violations. Since then, Laverty not only settled much of the legal mess, but even talked five other companies into merging with Davstar to form a company more than ten times its size called Urohealth.

Charles A. Laverty succeeds by sheer force of personality. When he took over a small biomedical outfit named Davstar last year, the company had losses greater than sales and was a target of shareholder litigation and a government investigation into possible securities laws violations. Since then, Laverty not only settled much of the legal mess, but even talked five other companies into merging with Davstar to form a company more than ten times its size called Urohealth.

UroHealth Systems Inc. said it agreed to buy several product lines that together accounted for $4.6 million in revenue last year. The maker of urological products said it plans to acquire suction and surgical products from Ximed Medical Systems, a privately held San Jose manufacturer. The products generated $3 million in revenue last year. UroHealth also expects to buy endoscopic products that accounted for revenue of $1.

Davstar Industries Ltd. said Monday that it will buy a Minneapolis-based medical-products company in a transaction valued at $12.4 million. Dacomed Corp., a privately held company that makes urological products, had revenue of about $9 million for its latest fiscal year. Davstar, which designs and manufactures disposable medical products for hospitals, nursing homes and home health care, has annual revenue of about $4.5 million. Michael A.

Urohealth Systems Inc. said Thursday it has signed a five-year contract to supply its medical and surgical products to a major hospital group. The contract to supply Premier Inc.'s 1,800 hospitals and other health care facilities lists purchasing "targets" of more than $1 billion over the five-year term, although no minimum purchasing requirements are included.

* Patrick J. Fortune has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Coram Healthcare Corp. in Newport Beach, effective Aug. 15. He most recently served as corporate vice president of information management for Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. Coram, which has announced plans to relocate its headquarters to Boulder, Colo., was formed as a result of the four-way merger last month of United T2 Medical, Curaflex Health Services, Medisys Inc. and HealthInfusion Inc.

Urohealth Systems Inc., which has been on an acquisition spree, is beefing up its management team. Officials of the Costa Mesa maker of urological products said Wednesday that Julian Osbon, the chairman and chief executive of Osbon Medical Systems, will become Urohealth's president and chief operating officer and a director when Urohealth's recently announced purchase of Atlanta-based Osbon is completed.

Urohealth Systems Inc. said Wednesday that recent acquisitions helped boost sales by 30% for the fiscal first quarter, but the company also posted higher losses. The Costa Mesa maker and marketer of treatments for impotence and incontinence posted sales of $6.2 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $4.8 million in the same period last year. The company, previously named Davstar Industries Inc., posted a loss of $2.

Urohealth Systems Inc., continuing its rapid expansion through acquisitions, has agreed to purchase a privately held medical products firm in Michigan for $55 million in cash and stock. Richard-Allan Medical Industries Inc. in Richland, outside Kalamazoo, is the ninth acquisition for Urohealth in the past year. "Current cost containment trends in health care dictate the need for offering minimally invasive, cost-effective treatments with shorter recovery times," Charles A.