Umbdenstock will be next AHA head
Rich Umbdenstock, a longtime health care executive in Spokane, will leave Providence Health & Services to become president of the American Hospital Association.
Umbdenstock was president and CEO of Providence Services in Spokane until that organization merged with its Seattle-based affiliate, Providence Health System, at the beginning of the year. Umbdenstock now is executive vice president of the merged organization, Providence Health & Services.
To prepare for the job of president of the AHA, which has 4,800 hospital members, Umbdenstock will become chief operating officer and president-elect of the advocacy group in June. He’ll become the AHA’s president and CEO in January, upon the retirement of the current head of the organization, Dick Davidson.
Taking a full-time job with the AHA “creates a full loop for my career,” Umbdenstock said in a letter to colleagues, noting that he served as a special assistant to the organization’s president in the 1970s.
Spokane Valley
Itron buying out Brazilian firm
Itron Inc. said it would acquire its South American distributor, ELO Sistemas e Tecnologia Ltda., in a transaction that should close in the second quarter.
The Brazilian company has been Itron’s South American distributor since 2004 and has manufactured Itron electricity meters since 2005, Spokane Valley-based Itron said in a news release.
Itron will pay $2.1 million for ELO Tecnologia when the sale closes, then could pay another about $6 million over the next five years depending on whether performance goals are met.
The acquisition will give Itron offices and a manufacturing and assembly facility in Campinas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two locations employ about 80 people.
Itron develops and sells meter-reading technology and services for water and power utilities.
New York
Jessica Simpson sued by TAG
A California-based clothing manufacturer is suing Jessica Simpson for $100 million, claiming she breached their contract by failing to support lines of apparel she developed with the company.
Tarrant Apparel Group (TAG) of Los Angeles says in court papers that an agreement it signed in December 2004 with Jessica Simpson Brand Management LLC lets it use Simpson’s name to make, sell, market and distribute women’s sportswear.
Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft issues critical patches
Microsoft Corp. released three critical patches Tuesday for its Windows operating system, including one to fix a flaw in the Internet Explorer browser that had already caused some Internet attacks.
The critical patches – deemed to pose the highest threat in Microsoft’s security warning system – all could allow an attacker to take control of another person’s computer without that user’s permission.