Cory Kwarta

Cory Kwarta left his role in the Army and entered the private sector, taking a job in Chicago and buying a condo with his wife. Things seemed on track. But his new job required extraordinary hours, and it was a struggle with little payoff in sight.

“What are you doing?” Kwarta said his wife asked him. “You need to find something else to do!”

Within a week, he resigned, and after some searching, he landed at Swisslog Healthcare Translogic, where today he is CEO.

“It has been an amazing journey because I connect with missions that serve a higher purpose than the individual,” Kwarta said. “That, in part, is why I was unhappy in my first post-military job. But it is also why I enjoyed the military, and why I am happy to be a part of the Swisslog Healthcare team. We are a for-profit company that generates revenue while also providing goods and services that ultimately serve society. This is a win-win outcome.”

Kwarta led Swisslog Healthcare to record sales during the pandemic, providing medical facilities with automation technology allowing health professionals to focus on patient care.

The company handled the pressures of the pandemic by shifting to remote work within 24 hours and making it through the year without having to let go of any employees. In 2021, Kwarta oversaw Swisslog Healthcare’s highest ever order intake and gross margin achieved, reaching 150% of its financial targets. The company was a finalist for Colorado Tech Company of the Year (APEX).

“We are one little piece of the healthcare ecosystem,” Kwarta said. “I measure our company’s success, not just in pure financials, but whether we continue to earn the right to compete and make healthcare better.”

Kwarta has a reputation for remaining calm in stressful situations, seeing the bigger picture and setting the course, being decisive and doing the right thing. He leaned on these skills, some of them learned during his military training, during the stress of the pandemic, he said.

Kwarta sees bigger and better things on the horizon for Swisslog Healthcare. He cites the company’s culture of commitment, competence, clarity and collaboration (the four Cs) for serving as a guide to success.

“Five years from now, we’ll still be a global operational technology provider, yet we’ll be increasingly integrated with the hospital infrastructure,” Kwarta said. “We’ll tailor solutions for central pharmacies that extend beyond the walls of one building but instead tie hospital networks and systems to the highest level of patient care. We’ll offer faster and even more reliable pneumatic tube systems inside the hospital wall and at critical hospital stations. Simply put, we’ll deliver more, better.”