Valdosta-based South Georgia Medical Center dropped the 'interim' from CEO Bill Forbes' title, according to a Valdosta Daily Times report.
Mr. Forbes assumed the interim CEO role in August 2018, after former hospital CEO Ross Berry asked the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County for a contract buyout. Mr. Forbes was previously assistant administrator of the hospital.
Mr. Forbes will not serve as the hospital's permanent CEO, however. The subtle title change was made to allow him to better perform the CEO role.
"The main purpose [of the change] is that an interim has to be for a short period of time or it begins to lose its power," said Sam Allen, chairman of the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, according to the report. "For an organization our size, in order to move forward with a lot of negotiations, a lot of people don't want to talk to somebody who has a title of interim."
The hospital will continue to search for a permanent leader.