Bausch & Lomb announced this week that former Schering-Plough executives Fred Hassan and Brent Saunders were named chairman and CEO, respectively.

RALEIGH, NC: MedThink Communications tapped Michael Szumera as VP and PR practice lead in December.

WASHINGTON: Grupo Vicini, an asset management firm, hired Edelman to pitch top tier media outlets about the Dominican Republic's support for earthquake victims in Haiti, according to a federal database.

NEW YORK: Burson-Marsteller named Helene Ellison global chair of the agency's healthcare practice. Ellison, most recently president and CEO of HealthStar PR, a healthcare firm she founded in 2003, started March 16.

The State Department plans to create seven deputy secretary positions as part of an effort to counter negative media coverage of the US, said Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale.

What's so interesting about the PRWeek Awards is that the awards remain a conversation topic throughout the year. Just this week, an agency CEO talked to me about Coyne's Midsize Agency of the Year win in 2009.

MINNEAPOLIS: ACA International, a trade association that represents credit and collection professionals, tapped Mark Schiffman as the director of PR.

NEW YORK: Ogilvy PR Worldwide added two senior staff to the firm's healthcare practice, tapping Mary Coyle as SVP of healthcare media relations and Larissa Severenko as SVP of healthcare.

WASHINGTON: Gibraltar Associates tapped Scott Evertz as an SVP to lead the firm's health policy work, effective March 1.

NEW YORK: Feintuch Communications hired Jules Abraham as VP and MD of the firm's new healthcare and life sciences practice.