In 2022, 103 hospital and health system CEO exits were recorded by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In the first month of 2023, Becker's covered 25.
If there was ever an easy time to lead a health system, it certainly isn't now. About 73 percent of CEOs believe economic growth will decline over the next year — a decade high for pessimism, according to PwC, which began administering the survey 12 years ago. Hospitals in particular just closed out their worst financial year since the pandemic, with half ending 2022 in the red. Broad economic pressures coupled with industry-specific ones — such as rising violence, staffing shortages, burnt-out workers and the lingering effects of COVID-19 — tend to accumulate at the helm.
Yet each exit brings a new appointment — a fresh set of eyes and ideas, a chance to refine the C-suite.
The following hospital and health system CEOs left their roles via retirement, resignation or termination in January:
1. Frank Calamari is retiring as president and CEO of New York City-based Calvary Hospital on March 10 after 36 years in the role.
2. Gary Honts retired as CEO of Indio, Calif.-based JFK Memorial Hospital.
3. David Henry left his role as CEO of Jackson, Miss.-based Merit Health Central to serve Merit Health Madison, about 25 miles away, amid recent service closures at Central.
4. Hank Milius, president and CEO of Muncie, Ind.-based Meridian Health Services, will retire at the end of 2023.
5. John Snow will resign as CEO of Oxford, N.C.-based Granville Health System after more than four years in the role.
6. David Elgarico resigned as CEO of Framingham, Mass.-based MetroWest Medical Center to return home to Oregon and be with his family. He assumed the role in July after serving three years as CEO of Quorum Health's McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, based in Springfield, Ore.
7. Julie Miller-Phipps will retire in July as president of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's Southern California and Hawaii markets. She has served as president of its Southern California market since 2016 and president of the Hawaii region since 2020.
8. Doug Arvin, CFO of Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health System, plans to resign, effective Feb. 3. A spokesperson for Altru told the Grand Forks Herald that Mr. Arvin accepted a position with Essentia Health in Fargo, N.D.
9. Scott Phillips and David Pierce resigned as acting CEO and acting CFO of El Centro (Calif.) Regional Medical Center. The two were managing directors for the hospital's management firm, Healthcare Management Partners, and stepped down after the firm issued the hospital a termination notice.
10. Daniel Cancelmi will retire as executive vice president and CFO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare at the end of 2023. He has led a decadeslong career at Tenet, transitioning to its corporate office in 1999 and holding various leadership positions. His retirement is one of nine executive changes taking place at the health system this year.
11. Stan Holm is no longer president and CEO of Olathe (Kan.) Health now that the health system has become part of the University of Kansas Health System. Olathe Health, a two-hospital system, said the majority of its senior leadership team has transitioned to Kansas City-based University of Kansas Health System, and Mr. Holm and the health system "mutually agreed he will not continue with the new combined organization."
12. Tony Keene is no longer CEO of Kirksville, Mo.-based Northeast Regional Medical Center. Dwayne Blaylock was named interim CEO.
13. Dustin Greene is exiting his role as CEO of HCA's TriStar Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He has accepted a role as CEO of Henderson, Texas-based QuickVisit Urgent Care. Mark Miller will take over as CEO of the hospital.
14. Mike Murrill is stepping down as president and CEO of AdventHealth's Redmond, Ga., hospital and its Southeast region, which oversees hospitals in Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina. Moving forward, separate CEOs will be named to AdventHealth Redmond and the Southeast region.
15. Gary Horan will retire as president and CEO of Elizabeth, N.J.-based Trinitas Regional Medical Center, part of West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health. He served more than 20 years with the hospital.
16. Kevin Manemann is leaving his role as CEO of Renton, Wash.-based Providence's South division. He has accepted a new position with Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope.
17. Kevin Slavin will retire as president and CEO of Paterson, N.J.-based St. Joseph's Health at the end of 2023. He spent nine years in the role.
18. Scott Boston, MD, has resigned as president and CEO of Jacksonville (Ill.) Memorial Hospital. Trevor Huffman, the hospital's director of ambulatory services, was named the new CEO.
19. Scott Cihak, president and CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based TriStar Centennial Medical Center, resigned for personal reasons after 31 years with HCA Healthcare.
20. Ashley McClellan resigned as CEO of HCA Midwest Health's Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. CFO John Krajicek was named to the interim role.
21. Don Caruso, MD, president and CEO of Keene, N.H.-based Cheshire Medical Center, will retire in May. The hospital is part of Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health.
22. Steve Dietlin will retire as CEO of Oceanside, Calif.-based Tri-City Medical Center in March. As of Jan. 3, a search committee was convening to find his replacement.
23. Carole Peet, MSN, RN, will step down from her role as president and CEO of Yakima (Wash.) Valley Memorial Hospital this month. The hospital, which was previously affiliated with Seattle-based Virginia Mason Health System, recently reached an acquisition agreement with Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System. Tammy Buyok, MultiCare's vice president of facilities management and operation support services, will serve as interim president once the acquisition receives regulatory approval.
24. Joe Hugar is no longer president and CEO of Campbellsville, Ky.-based Taylor Regional Hospital. Shane Fitzgerald, COO of Louisville, Ky.-based UofL Health-Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, was named to the interim post.
25. Alfred Pilong Jr. is no longer CEO of Middletown, N.Y.-based Garnet Health. The health system's board terminated his three-year contract after the first year and named Jerry Dunlavey — its current vice president of operations and COO of its hospital in Monticello, N.Y. — to the interim post.