David W. Strong will be president and CEO of Orlando (Fla.) Health beginning in April.
Mr. Strong accepted the position in January to lead the $2.1 billion nonprofit system of 1,780-beds, five community hospitals, three specialty hospitals and a cancer center.
Mr. Strong will take over for the system's interim CEO, Chief Quality Officer Jamal Hakim, MD, who has been working for more than a year to stabilize the system after a period of massive layoffs, falling profits and dissatisfied employees.
Mr. Strong brings more than 20 years of healthcare administration experience to the position. He comes to Orlando from his position as president of Raleigh, N.C.-based Rex Healthcare and COO of system affiliations for University of North Carolina Health Care in Chapel Hill. Mr. Strong has been the president of Rex since 2004. Before that, he served four years as COO of Oklahoma City-based Mercy Health Center and served as executive vice president at Baton Rouge, La.-based Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
Mr. Strong earned a master's degree in hospital and health administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati.
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