Firm’s Relocation to Cost Up to 400 Jobs

An Oxnard maker of blood pressure monitoring devices will close its doors and move to Singapore within five months, leaving most of its 400 employees without a job.

Ohmeda Medical Devices, a New Jersey-based company, has announced that it is consolidating its operations worldwide to save money. It has facilities in 30 countries.

The company plans to close its Oxnard facility and purchase new high-tech manufacturing equipment for its plant in Singapore, where the monitoring devices are already being made for less than the cost of the U.S. models.

In addition to cost-cutting, a patent dispute with the Baxter Co. threatened Ohmeda’s production of the devices in the United States, according to a news release. The Oxnard plant has been in operation since 1988.

Steven Kinney, executive director of the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., said he was disappointed and surprised by the news. But the move was prompted by circumstances that had nothing to do with Oxnard and its business climate, he added.

“If they decide they can make more money by going to Singapore, that’s what they’re going to do,” Kinney said.

A few of the Oxnard managers will be transferred to other company facilities, but most of the 400 employees will be laid off beginning in September, said spokeswoman Judee Shuler. Most of the workers held low-paying assembly-line type jobs.

Displaced employees will receive between four to 26 weeks of severance pay, depending on experience, Shuler said.