HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has appointed five new regional directors of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As HHS regional directors, they will serve as key representatives of Sebelius in working with federal, state, local, and tribal officials on a wide range of health and social service issues.
B.W. Ruffner, Jr., MD, an oncologist and internist from Chattanooga, was installed as the 156th president of the Tennessee Medical Association. Michael Minch, MD, a Nashville surgeon, was installed as president-elect during the annual TMA House of Delegates meeting in Nashville.
Lutheran HealthCare announced that Emma Graeber Porter, president/founder of Graeber Consulting, has been elected as the new chair of the LHC Board of Trustees. Porter will be replacing Thomas J. Edwards, president/CEO of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, who has served for the last three years. Porter has served on the LHC Board of Trustees for 19 years.
J. Larry Read, president/CEO of University Health Care System, announced his retirement to the University Health Services Board of Trustees at its monthly meeting. Read, who has led the organization for 11 years, will remain with University through May. Read joined University in January 1999, coming from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. Jim Davis, COO of University Heath Services and Extended Care, will assume the position of University Health Care System president/CEO on June 1.
Larry McCulley is the new CEO and president of Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (SIHF) and Touchette Regional Hospital. For the past seven years at SIHF, McCulley oversaw 35 medical offices in Southwestern Illinois, which included more than 600 staff members, 160 healthcare providers, and responsibility for a $48 million budget. Robert Klutts, former CEO, will continue to work for SIHF part-time as a senior advisor.
The Good Samaritan Hospital Board of Governors announced Rob McLin as the hospital's new president/CEO. McLin is stepping up from the position of vice president of finance, which he had held since 1997. An 18-year employee of Good Samaritan Hospital, McLin began his career at the regional healthcare facility as the internal auditor in 1992. McLin replaces Matthew Bailey, who spent 26 years with Good Samaritan Hospital, and resigned on Feb. 12. Senior Vice President Gerald Waldroup has filled in as the interim president/CEO.