Fishermen’s Names New CEO, Takes Helm Jan. 1, 2012

Dec. 14th, 2011

Fishermen’s Names New CEO, Takes Helm Jan. 1, 2012

MARATHON, Florida Keys—Fishermen’s Community Hospital’s Board of Trustees today named a seasoned healthcare professional with three decades in hospital leadership positions, and for the past 15 years was CEO of a Mississippi hospital, as its new chief executive officer.
Dr. Hal Leftwich, with a Doctorate in Business Administration from California Coast University, a Master of Hospital and Health Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Healthcare Administration from Eastern Kentucky University, will take over leadership of the hospital on Jan. 1, 2012.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Hal Leftwich as our new CEO,” said Michael Cunningham, chairman of the hospital Board of Trustees. “Although there were several highly qualified candidates, the choice of Leftwich was surprisingly clear cut for both the board and the staff that participated in interviews with him. He successfully led several small hospitals through major challenges, was a hospital CEO or vice president at four Florida hospitals, and has the proven skills and leadership abilities to take Fishermen’s Community Hospital to the next level.”

Leftwich leaves Hancock Medical Center, an acute care hospital in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, with two rural health clinics, and a satellite outpatient services campus. When he assumed the CEO position in 1997, the hospital had 104 beds, but a direct hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the resultant flooding from storm surge, destroyed 100,000 square feet of the hospital main floor, leaving only 25 operational beds on the second floor.

“Katrina forced the hospital to downsize, but eventually we rebuilt the hospital into a 47-bed facility and are heading back to 104 as more and more residents return to the area,” said Leftwich. “The hurricane destroyed my home as well, so I spent the next six months living in a camper in the hospital parking lot as we moved quickly to get the hospital operational again.”

Leftwich is a Fellow with the prestigious American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Mississippi Hospital Association Board of Directors. The Mississippi Nursing Association named his facility Hospital of the Year (under 100 beds) in 2009.
Leftwich was vice president of Kissimmee Memorial Hospital, Kissimmee, FL, from 1982-1984; vice president of Parrish Medical Center, Titusville, FL, from, 1984-1991; and has been employed by Quorum Health Resources, Brentwood, TN, (which specializes in aiding hospitals in complicated transitions and was hired by Fishermen’s to handle its change from for profit to nonprofit) since 1991 where he served as interim CEO for several hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

“I am excited for the opportunity to work with a great small hospital and an outstanding staff,” said Leftwich. “I grew up in Orlando, and often came to the Keys with my family to snorkel and fish, so this is like returning home for me.”
Scott Landrum, who has led the hospital as chief transition officer since last January when the Board of Trustees decided to return the hospital to nonprofit status, is leaving his post on Dec. 31, 2011.

Fishermen’s Community Hospital is a nonprofit organization located in the Middle Keys community of Marathon. It offers a state-of-the-art emergency department, full array of diagnostic and laboratory services, an intensive care unit, inpatient and outpatient surgery, physical and occupational therapy, pharmacy, and other essential services.