The Versiti, Inc. board of directors has selected a new president and chief executive officer to replace long-time Versiti and BloodCenter of Wisconsin chief Jacquelyn Fredrick.
Fredrick, who has run the BloodCenter of Wisconsin since 2001 and oversaw the creation of Versiti, announced in May that she planned to retire in 2017. She will step down officially on Feb. 3.
Chris Miskel, an executive for the global biopharmaceutical giant Shire, will join Versiti on Feb. 1.
“It is an honor and privilege to be selected as the next CEO of Versiti,” Miskel said in a statement. “Versiti’s mission is inspiring, and I’m thrilled to continue the extraordinary journey that Jackie has led with our exceptionally talented colleagues across Versiti.”
Versiti is an organization of four affiliated health care organizations: the BloodCenter of Wisconsin and three other blood research and service center affiliates in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Miskel will lead Versiti and its four affiliate organizations.
“Chris (Miskel) will be charged with expanding Versiti’s long standing commitment to excellence in research, medicine, and innovation that has established Versiti and BloodCenter of Wisconsin as an internationally respected transfusion medicine, transplantation and blood-related diseases organization for the last 70 years,” said Peter Ziegler, Versiti search committee chair.
Miskel earned a degree in business administration from Butler University in Indianapolis and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He worked for Eli Lilly and Company from 1996 to 2013 and for Baxter International’s global bio-pharmaceutical business — which spun off to become Baxalta in July 2015 and was acquired by Shire in a $32 billion deal that closed earlier this year — from 2013 to 2016.
“Chris’ passion for our mission, keen appreciation for research and science, and his business experience in the health care industry, make him uniquely qualified to lead Versiti during this transformative and exciting time in health care,” said Versiti board chair Dick Fotsch. “We were committed to finding a new leader that would perpetuate the many successes that Jackie has led to keep Versiti at the forefront of a rapidly changing health care environment and to advance our mission of becoming a national leader in innovative solutions to meet the unique blood-related needs of our customers.”
The BloodCenter of Wisconsin specializes in blood services, organ, tissue and marrow donation, diagnostic testing, medical services and research. Through Versiti, the organization provides services for hospitals around the country.
