SysteMed Makes Profit, Brings in New President

LAGUNA HILLS — SysteMed Inc., which eked out a profit for the latest quarter after two losses in a row, has turned to the outside for a new president and chief executive.

Samuel L. Westover took over the job on Thursday after 14 years with health maintenance organizations. He said his challenge at SysteMed, which manages prescription drug benefits for corporations and insurers, will be increasing the company’s earnings.

“The company has done a good job in the last few years growing its revenue line and we hope to continue that,” Westover said. “We need to focus now on productivity and cost control.”

Westover, who has served on SysteMed’s board since August, 1992, comes to the company from WellPoint Health Network Inc. in Woodland Hills, where he was chief financial officer, treasurer and senior vice president. WellPoint is California’s largest managed health care company and is a publicly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross of California.

SysteMed’s former president and chief executive, J. Roberts Fosberg, has been elected chairman of the board. John E. Flood, previous board chairman, has been appointed vice chairman of the board.

Evan Sturza, editor of New York-based Sturza’s Medical Investment Letter, said, “SysteMed is in the right place. They’re positioned to do well; they just have to get their house in order.”

In Thursday’s NASDAQ trading, the company’s stock gained 18.75 cents a share to close at $4.81. By contrast, the stock of competitor Medco Containment Services Inc.--the New Jersey-based drug distributor being purchased by giant Merck & Co.--has been trading recently at about $33 a share.

“Medco,” Westover said Thursday, “shows the types of opportunities available to us.”