HAYWOOD, NC: Poore resigns as MedWest Haywood leader

The president of MedWest-Haywood hospital has stepped down after three-and-a-half years on the job. Mike Poore's tenure at the helm of MedWest-Haywood was marked by an aggressive strategy to restore a crisis of community confidence, rebuild plummeting finances and compete head-to-head with the much-larger neighboring Mission Hospital in Asheville. The news that Poore was resigning came as a surprise to the medical community and hospital's board of directors. Poore assumed leadership after a tumultuous period during which the hospital failed federal inspections and was forced to essentially shut its doors for four months in 2008.