New York politicians are raising concerns that the sale of medical device manufacturer Welch Allyn could put central New York jobs in jeopardy.
When Hill-Rom announced Wednesday morning that it is acquiring Welch Allyn, it did not say that any jobs would be eliminated at the Skaneateles Falls-based company. But that's what was immediately on the mind of the lawmakers who represent the central New York in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) told reporters Wednesday he had a “call in” to company representatives to find out more.
“The thing I will be doing is making sure that the Welch Allyn jobs are protected and hopefully this new company will grow the jobs,” said Schumer.
Hill-Rom, another medical device manufacturer, based in Chicago, is buying Welch Allyn for more than $2 billion. In a press release, Hill-rom said the newly combined company would be headquartered in Chicago and that it expects several members of Welch Allyn's senior management to join the company. CEO John Greisch also said that the company intends to maintain a major presence in Skaneateles Falls and in Tijuana, Mexico, where Welch Allyn also has a manufacturing operation.
But Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) quickly placed blame for Welch Allyn's sale on the controversial medical device tax. Katko is among the many Republicans who have said the tax -- which is part of the Affordable Care Act -- makes it harder for medical device companies to innovate and therefore create jobs.
Katko took to the House of Representatives floor Wednesday to call for the repeal of the tax.
“There’s no question that the medical device tax has now put jobs, hundreds of well-paying jobs in central New York, in jeopardy,” said the congressman. “And they did this strictly because they couldn’t compete at their size with all the things that were against them, including the medical device tax.”
Welch Allyn employs about 1,000 people in Skaenateles Falls.
