Another New Orleans hospital CEO leaving for job elsewhere

Leslie Hirsch has resigned as president and chief executive of Touro Infirmary effective in early May. Hirsch came to Touro one week before Hurricane Katrina. He is leaving to serve as president and CEO of the Saint Clare's Health System in New Jersey. His resignation comes at a time of financial stress for local hospitals, which have absorbed waves of uninsured patients through their emergency rooms since Charity Hospital closed after the storm. He is the second hospital chief executive to leave the area in less than a year, joining Gary Muller of West Jefferson Medical Center.