Hospira Inc., formerly the hospital-products division of Abbott Laboratories, debuted as a publicly traded company Monday.The new company, with 14,000 employees, 14 manufacturing sites worldwide and an estimated $2.5 billion in annual sales, began trading as part of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, replacing American Greetings Corp.Hospira is led by Chief Executive Christopher Begley, former president of North Chicago-based Abbott’s hospital-products division, who rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
