Back in July, DOTmed News reported that Laura Hafner was stepping into the void left by Pat Fitzgerald, former president of Dunlee, leaving the company. Hafner, who was the senior director for Global Sales and Marketing for the Dunlee division at that time, was tapped to assume the leadership role for the Generators, Tubes and Components Division third party business.

Less than three months later, Hafner has made a more significant move - this time to Dunlee competitor, Varian Medical Systems. DOTmed News caught up with Hafner to find out what the move means for Varian and what her role will be with the company.

Hafner is stepping into a newly created position as the director of global marketing for the Imaging Components Business. "So that is the X-ray tubes, flat panel detectors and security and inspection products," Hafner said.
Hafner said she will help Varian to develop new programs and services to go hand-in-hand with product sales. "So rather than just being someone that sells a transactional tube, someone can sell a contract for a tube in a different kind of way," she said. She said it may take the form of developing an insurance product for Varian or determining other ways to bundle and package product and service offerings.

In the not too distant past, there was talk about Varian buying Dunlee, but the deal never came to fruition. In part, the deal was desired by Varian because the company wanted to expand its manufacturing capabilities. In lieu of gaining Dunlee's production facilities, Varian instead broke ground in late August on a new plant right next door to their X-ray products manufacturing headquarters.

Hafner's corporate move also means a physical move as she and her family will be heading out of Illinois to settle in Salt Lake City, Utah, where that segment of Varian's business is based.

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