Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and Stanford Children's Health, is retiring. He will step down from his post due to recent health issues, effective immediately.
Mr. Dawes wrote in a post on LinkedIn he planned to announce his retirement next week, "with the intention to remain in the role until we have completed the process of recruiting a suitable replacement. Unfortunately, due to recent health developments, effective immediately, I will be taking a medical leave from my role as CEO."
He joined Children's Hospital at Stanford 29 years ago and was given the task to oversee the development of the new Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. He served as CEO Lucile Packard for 21 years.
During his tenure, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford opened a new hospital building and made significant investments in the Children's Health Research Institute.
Dennis Lund, MD, Lucile Packard's CMO, will take over as interim CEO.
"On behalf of everyone across Stanford Children's Health, we are very supportive of Chris' decision to focus his full energy on his health," said Dr. Lund in a statement emailed to Becker's Hospital Review. "As an organization, we will stay the course that Chris has set into motion for continued growth of key programs and expanded access to Stanford Children's Health services. We are hopeful that Chris will soon rejoin the process to identify a successor for the CEO role. Most importantly, we want to recognize and thank Chris for his nearly 30 years of extraordinary service."