Cook Medical said it named Pete Yonkman as president, with Kem Hawkins stepping down from the role to better oversee Cook Group altogether.
Yonkman has been with Cook Medical for the past 12 years, originally joining the company as corporate counsel and most recently serving as executive vice president of Cook Medical’s 10 strategic business units.
A representative for Cook Medical explained that Yonkman’s appointment is representative of the expansion of the firm and its leadership board in efforts to better manage the company.
“Cook has basically doubled in size over the last 5 years, grown to $2 billion in sales, hired thousands of new employees, opened new markets in China/APAC," a Cook spokesperson wrote, in an email. "So this is an expansion of the Cook executive leadership team to better manage and sustain that growth. Kem’s not stepping down exactly, it’s more like bringing Pete up a level."
The company is not expected to make a drastic change at this time, continuing on the business course that it has maintained, including staying private.