Memorial Healthcare System CEO Announces Retirement

Aurelio M. Fernandez, III, FACHE, will end his six-year tenure as president and CEO at the end of April.

Memorial Healthcare System's president and CEO will be retiring at the end of April, the Hollywood, Florida-based health system announced earlier this week.

Aurelio M. Fernandez, III, FACHE, has led the nonprofit health system over the past six years, and leaves a transformational legacy, the press release stated.

"My tenure as president and CEO has been the most rewarding time of my career," Fernandez said in a statement. "Memorial has a great culture and I’m very proud of the work our employees do every day for patients and the community."

During his time as president and CEO, Fernandez led five strategic initiatives that "invigorated Memorial" and had a positive impact on the community and the health system's safety, technology, clinical integration, expanded services, and enhanced culture.

During his tenure, Memorial Hospitals earned "A" grades for safety from The Leapfrog Group; the health system broke ground on its $125 million Memorial Cancer Institute in South Florida; Memorial Hospital Miramar opened the first four floors of its new medical pavilion in Miramar, Florida; the health system opened the Joe DiMaggio Children's Health Specialty Center in Wellington, Florida; and oversaw the expansion of the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, increasing the hospital from four to eight floors.

Fernandez has been an innovative healthcare leader in Florida for 45 years and has worked at Memorial for more than 15 years. He served as CEO of Memorial Hospital Miramar and later served as COO of the health system in 2012.

Prior to joining Memorial, he served as CEO at Hialeah Hospital and Florida Medical Center for Tenet Healthcare. He also served as executive director for Tenet Network Management.

A national search is currently underway for Fernandez's successor, the South Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners recently announced. Finalists are expected to be selected in late March and April and will meet a broad range of the health system's stakeholders prior to the Board's vote.