Swisslog Healthcare Appoints Maria Garces as Vice President of Product Management, Strengthening Global Product Leadership
Swisslog Healthcare, a global leader in transport automation and pharmacy automation solutions for hospitals and health systems, today announced the appointment of Maria Garces as Vice President of Product Management. A seasoned healthcare technology executive, Garces brings extensive experience in global product strategy, portfolio leadership, and business transformation across healthcare, pharmacy, and technology markets.
In her new role, Garces will oversee Swisslog Healthcare’s product management organization, guiding the strategic direction of the company’s growing portfolio of automation and digital solutions. She will be responsible for defining long-term product roadmaps, aligning innovation initiatives with customer needs, and ensuring that Swisslog Healthcare continues to deliver solutions that improve medication safety, operational efficiency, and patient outcomes.
The appointment underscores Swisslog Healthcare’s continued investment in product leadership as healthcare providers worldwide face mounting pressure to improve care delivery, address workforce shortages, and manage increasing complexity in medication management.
Driving Innovation in a Rapidly Evolving Healthcare Landscape
Hospitals and health systems are navigating unprecedented challenges, from staffing constraints and rising costs to growing patient volumes and increasing regulatory demands. Medication management remains one of the most complex and risk-sensitive areas of healthcare operations, requiring accuracy, speed, and seamless coordination across pharmacy, nursing, and clinical teams.
Swisslog Healthcare’s automation and software solutions play a critical role in helping organizations address these challenges. By streamlining pharmacy workflows, automating medication transport, and improving inventory visibility, the company enables clinicians to focus more time and attention on patient care.
Garces will play a central role in advancing this mission.
“Maria’s appointment reflects our commitment to building solutions that directly address the evolving needs of healthcare providers,” said Cory Kwarta, Chief Executive Officer of Swisslog Healthcare. “She brings a strong combination of strategic vision, operational discipline, and customer focus. Her leadership will help ensure that our technology continues to support safer, more efficient medication management while enabling hospitals to deliver better care across the entire continuum.”
Kwarta added that Garces’ experience managing global product portfolios and leading organizations through periods of transformation makes her well positioned to guide Swisslog Healthcare’s next phase of innovation and growth.
Extensive Experience in Global Product Leadership
Garces brings more than a decade of experience leading complex product organizations in highly regulated healthcare and technology environments. Throughout her career, she has successfully managed global product portfolios, launched new solutions, and implemented go-to-market strategies designed to drive growth while maintaining a strong focus on customer value.
Prior to joining Swisslog Healthcare, Garces served as Product Management Director for Omnicell’s EnlivenHealth Division, where she led product strategy and execution for SaaS-based clinical and pharmacy engagement solutions. During her tenure, she guided a successful clinical product launch, introduced new go-to-market models, and played a key role in improving product profitability, achieving a 20% increase in product margins.
Her work at Omnicell also included close collaboration with healthcare providers, retail pharmacies, and channel partners to ensure that product development aligned with real-world operational needs. This hands-on approach to customer engagement has been a defining characteristic of her leadership style.
In addition to Omnicell, Garces has held senior roles spanning product management, strategy, and business development, with a focus on scaling solutions globally while maintaining consistency, quality, and regulatory compliance.
Customer-Centric Product Strategy
At Swisslog Healthcare, Garces will focus on strengthening customer-centricity across the product lifecycle, from early concept development through commercialization and ongoing optimization. This includes working closely with customers, internal engineering teams, clinical experts, and commercial leaders to ensure that product decisions are informed by practical use cases and measurable outcomes.
Healthcare providers face real challenges in medication management that directly impact patient care,” said Maria Garces, Vice President of Product Management at Swisslog Healthcare. “Our responsibility as product leaders is to make sure our solutions address those challenges in meaningful, practical ways.”
She emphasized the importance of automation and intelligent workflows in supporting frontline clinicians.
When pharmacy automation and transport systems work seamlessly, clinicians spend less time managing logistics and more time with patients,” Garces said. “That’s the impact we strive for—technology that fades into the background while enabling safer, faster, and more reliable care.”
Garces will also focus on aligning Swisslog Healthcare’s product strategy with emerging trends such as data-driven decision-making, interoperability, and scalable automation architectures that can adapt to the needs of healthcare organizations of all sizes.
Supporting Global Growth and Innovation
Swisslog Healthcare operates globally, serving hospitals and health systems across North America, Europe, and other international markets. Garces’ experience working with global teams and customers will be instrumental in supporting the company’s international growth strategy.
Fluent in English and Spanish and proficient in Italian, Garces brings valuable cross-cultural communication skills that support collaboration across regions. Her global perspective will help ensure that Swisslog Healthcare’s solutions address both local market requirements and broader industry trends.
As Vice President of Product Management, Garces will also play a key role in identifying opportunities for innovation across Swisslog Healthcare’s portfolio, including enhancements to existing solutions and the development of new offerings that address unmet needs in medication management and hospital logistics.
Commitment to Education and Mentorship
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Garces has demonstrated a strong commitment to education and mentorship. She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, where she taught graduate-level courses in product management. Through her teaching and mentoring activities, she has supported the development of emerging product leaders and contributed to the advancement of best practices in the field.
Her passion for mentorship aligns with Swisslog Healthcare’s focus on talent development and knowledge sharing across the organization.
Leadership Transition Supports Continued Focus on Pharmacy Expertise
Alongside Garces’ appointment, Swisslog Healthcare also announced that Michael Palone will transition to a new role as Pharmacy Affairs Executive. In this position, Palone will serve as a subject matter expert and ambassador for Swisslog Healthcare, supporting key customer engagements, industry events, and academic collaborations.
Palone’s new role reflects the company’s commitment to maintaining strong clinical and pharmacy expertise as it continues to evolve its product offerings. By leveraging Palone’s experience and industry relationships, Swisslog Healthcare aims to further strengthen its engagement with pharmacy leaders and healthcare organizations worldwide.
Positioning for the Future of Healthcare Automation
As healthcare systems continue to invest in automation to improve efficiency, safety, and resilience, Swisslog Healthcare is positioning itself to lead innovation in pharmacy and transport automation. The addition of Garces to the executive leadership team reinforces the company’s focus on disciplined product management, customer-driven innovation, and long-term value creation.
With Maria joining our leadership team, we are strengthening our ability to translate customer needs into impactful solutions,” Kwarta said. “Her leadership will help ensure that Swisslog Healthcare remains a trusted partner to healthcare providers as they navigate the future of care delivery.”
Garces expressed enthusiasm about joining the organization and contributing to its mission.
Swisslog Healthcare has a strong legacy of innovation and a clear focus on improving patient care through automation,” she said. “I’m excited to work with this talented team to build products that make a real difference for clinicians, pharmacists, and patients around the world.”
About Swisslog Healthcare
Swisslog Healthcare provides pharmacy workflow automations through robotic solutions and operational technology that enable hospitals and health systems to assist providers in treating patients across the continuum of care. Integrating transport and pharmacy automation, value-added services, and intelligent software, Swisslog Healthcare enables healthcare providers to respond to patients’ needs quickly and with greater accuracy. The company minimizes many sources of operational waste, so providers achieve higher levels of productivity to impact the well-being of patients in positive ways.
