At least 10 hospitals and health systems announced changes to executive ranks and administration teams in March and April.
The changes come as hospitals continue to grapple with financial challenges, leading some organizations to cut jobs and implement other operational adjustments. Changes to executive ranks include reorganizing executive responsibilities and executive appointments.
The following changes were announced within the last six weeks and are summarized below, with links to more comprehensive coverage of the changes.
Editor's Note: This webpage was updated April 13 and will continue to be updated.
1. Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan is restructuring its senior leadership team. Among the changes is that Saul Weingart, MD, PhD, president of Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children's Hospital, has left Lifespan. Steven Lampert, MD, president of Lifespan Physician Group, will be retiring at the end of April. Additionally, the chief of hospital operations and president of Rhode Island and Hasbro Children's hospitals role will now combine and report to Lifespan CEO John Fernandez. Read more about the changes here.
2. Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health is trimming its executive team as its new hospital project moves forward. The health system is trimming its executive team from nine to six and incentivizing 34 other employees to take early retirement.
3. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health laid off about 50 workers, including C-level executives, the health system confirmed to Becker's March 29. The layoffs affected Jesse Cureton, the health system's executive vice president and chief consumer officer since 2013; Angela Yochem, its executive vice president and chief transformation and digital officer since 2020; and Paula Dean Kranz, vice president of innovation enablement and executive director of the Novant Health Innovation Labs.
4. Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health has eliminated fewer than 65 jobs, or less than 1 percent of its workforce of about 9,700, the health system confirmed to Becker's March 30. The layoffs include support, administrative and executive roles, and COVID-19-related support staff, spokesperson John Lines said, according to lancasteronline.com. Mr. Lines did not provide a specific number of affected workers.
5. McLaren St. Luke's Hospital in Maumee, Ohio, will lay off 743 workers, including 239 registered nurses, when it permanently closes this spring. Other affected roles include physical therapists, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and pharmacy support staff, and nursing assistants. The hospital's COO is also affected, and a spokesperson for McLaren Health Care told Becker's other senior leadership roles are also affected.
6. Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care announced it would eliminate five hospital leadership positions across the organization. Spokesperson Eric Maze did not specify which roles were affected, saying that the organization won't address individual personnel actions. According to MU Health Care, the move is a result of restructuring "to better support patients and the future healthcare needs of Missourians."
7. Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine announced it would eliminate administrative positions. The change is part of a reorganization plan to save the health system $40 million annually, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported March 13. Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, told Penn Medicine's 49,000 employees that changes include the elimination of a "small number of administrative positions which no longer align with our key objectives," according to the publication. The memo did not indicate the exact number of affected positions.
8. Sovah Health, part of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health, eliminated the COO positions at its Danville and Martinsville, Va., campuses. The responsibilities of both COO roles will now be spread across members of the existing administrative team.
9. Cox Medical Group, a subsidiary of Springfield, Mo.-based CoxHealth, made several leadership changes to support the health system's new operating model. The new model is focused on key service lines — such as cardiovascular services, orthopedics and primary care. Four things to know.
10. Valley Health, a six-hospital health system based in Winchester, Va., eliminated 31 administrative positions. The job cuts are part of the consolidation of the organization's leadership team and administrative roles. They were announced internally on Feb. 28.