HEALTH CARE : Birtcher Corp. Moves to Irvine, Expects Confusion on Name

For years, Orange County has been the home of a commercial development firm, owned by the Birtcher family, that eschews use of labels such as “company” or “group” and simply goes by the name Birtcher.

Now there’s a new Birtcher organization in the county, one that makes electronic surgical instruments.

It has no business connection with the Birtcher development firm in Laguna Niguel.

But it shares the Birtcher name because it was founded 53 years ago by a member of the same family.

The Birtcher Corp., formerly of El Monte, has moved its corporate headquarters to the Irvine Spectrum industrial park to consolidate its operations with those of a Denver-based company it acquired last year from C.R. Bard Inc.

In September, about 65 employees transferred from El Monte. And by the end of January, 80 positions will be transferred from Denver to Birtcher Corp.’s new 67,000-square-foot Irvine facility, said Dan Whelan, the company’s chief financial officer.

Whelan said last year’s acquisition was a big step for Birtcher Corp., which had only $6.9 million in sales. The C.R. Bard unit it bought has annual sales of $15 million.

Birtcher Corp. makes surgical instruments used by dermatologists and plastic surgeons, and the acquisition gave it a new line of surgical products to sell to hospitals.

Whelan said that some confusion has arisen from the corporation stepping into an area where the Birtcher name is most readily identified with the Birtcher commercial developers.

So, to lessen the confusion and broadcast a clearer picture of its business, Birtcher Corp. plans to change its name to Birtcher Medical Systems at its annual meeting next week, Whelan said.

The sharing of the Birtcher name by two enterprises is no coincidence, said Art Birtcher, co-chairman of the development company. He said the medical company was founded by his uncle Cecil, the elder brother of his father, F.E. Birtcher--founder of the development enterprise.

When Cecil Birtcher died in the early 1960s, Art said, other members of the Birtcher family sold their interest in the medical company, which, unlike the development enterprise, is publicly traded.