José Almeida has been appointed chairman and CEO of Baxter International, the Deerfield, Ill.-based medical product company.
Almeida, 53, has immediately joined the company as an executive officer to ensure a smooth transition from Robert Parkinson Jr., who is retiring after serving as the company's CEO for over a decade. Almeida's appointment as chairman and CEO will take effect at the beginning of 2016.
Prior to joining Baxter, Almeida had been chairman, president and CEO of Covidien since 2012, and was named a director in 2011. He previously served as president of Covidien's medical-device business, which accounted for about two-thirds of the company's annual revenue and roughly three-quarters of its operating profit.
Almeida has also held leadership positions at Wilson Greatbatch, American Home Products' Acufex Microsurgical division and Johnson & Johnson's professional products division. His career began at Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture, where he was a management consultant.
