Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health President and CEO Jim Nathan is retiring, after serving as leader of the health system for close to 36 years, according to a News-Press report.
Here are eight things to know:
1. Mr. Nathan will step down from the role on June 1. He is leaving before the end of his five-year contract.
2. He intends to stay at the health system as a part-time consultant post-retirement.
3. He became president and CEO in 1981. He left the health system briefly in 1997 for a job in healthcare consulting. He returned three years later.
4. During his tenure, the previously one-hospital system grew to include five hospitals, one rehabilitation facility and numerous outpatient, pediatric and emergency care locations.
5. Most recently, the health system completed the construction of the new $242 million Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.
6. Mr. Nathan has asked the health system board to name COO Larry Antonucci, MD, as the organization's new president and CEO.
7. Dr. Antonucci, an obstetrics and gynecology physician, has served as COO since 2011.
8. The board has not acted on Mr. Nathan's suggestion as yet. It plans to meet next week and take public comments regarding the selection of the new CEO and whether a national search should be conducted.