West Penn health system narrows CEO search to two

West Penn Allegheny Health System's search for a new chief executive officer is down to two candidates--one from Camden, NJ, and another from Cincinnati. The hospital network has been without a permanent CEO since the abrupt July 2007 departure of Jerry Fedele, who left amid internal disagreements about a systemwide consolidation. Board member Keith Smith is now in charge of the network on an interim basis and the goal is to announce a new CEO in the first quarter of 2008.