Becker's Hospital Review

41 CEO / STRATEGY Long Beach Medical Center CEO, COO hand in surprise resignations By Kelly Gooch T he CEO and COO of MemorialCare Long Beach (Calif.) Medical Center and Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach are leaving their roles. CEO John Bishop and COO Ike Mmeje announced their resignations July 26 in a letter to staff, the Long Beach Post reported July 27. Mr. Bishop has held the top leadership role since 2015. Mr. Mmeje became COO of Long Beach Medical in September 2017. He also became COO of Miller Children's & Women's in February 2019. "Like many, I have found myself during the last two years of a pandemic doing a lot of personal reflection, and I've been evaluating both my personal and professional goals," Mr. Bishop wrote, according to the Long Beach Post. "As we position ourselves for the future, I have concluded that what is best for both the organization and for me is to allow for someone new to lead you through the next exciting chapter," he added. In a statement shared with Becker's, Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare health system said Mr. Bishop has agreed to remain CEO of the hospitals pending the completion of a national search to identify his successor. e health system said Mr. Mmeje has also announced that he will leave the hospitals in August "to pursue other opportunities." Helen Macfie, PharmD, who most recently served as MemorialCare's chief transformation officer, is assuming the position of acting COO of the hospitals. "We greatly appreciate both John's and Ike's contributions to our organization and their years of dedicated service to our community," MemorialCare said. "We are also grateful to Helen and the other talented leaders at the Long Beach campus who will help lead the hospitals through the transition and in the years ahead." n FTC poised to thwart more hospital mergers By Nathan Tucker T he Federal Trade Commission's new majority is primed to more aggressively combat consolidation in the healthcare industry after successfully challenging four hospital mergers, according to a July 18 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. In June, RWJBarnabas Health, which operates 12 hospitals, scrapped its acquisition of St. Peter's Healthcare System, which runs one hospital for adults and children in New Jersey. Additionally, in June, HCA Healthcare, which operates 182 hospitals, halted its acquisition of five Steward Health Care System hospitals in Utah shortly after the FTC filed a lawsuit to block the transaction, claiming it would raise prices and lower the quality of care. Mark Seidman, assistant director in the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said that the FTC is a pivotal way to slow healthcare cost increases. "We are feeling invigorated and looking to fulfill the executive order's call to be aggressive on antitrust enforcement," Mr. Seidman said. Although hospital mergers were supposed to improve cost efficiency, experts agree that the creation of huge conglomerates and hospital networks has driven up U.S. medical costs, which are by far the highest in the world, according to the report. n Jefferson COO takes top spot at BayCare By Molly Gamble C learwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System has named Stephanie Conners as its next president and CEO. Ms. Conners is currently executive vice president and COO of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, which she began in 2018. She will join BayCare in October to begin the transition with current CEO Tommy Inzina, who plans to retire by year's end. BayCare was founded in 1997 and sees about $5 billion in annual revenue. Ms. Conners will assume the CEO role shortly before it opens its 16th hospital in 2023 and as it finalizes decisions on a 17th hospital. Ms. Conners began her career as a bedside nurse before becoming a trauma nurse and then moving into management. Her previous leadership roles include CNO of Tenet Healthcare's Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, CNO of Robert Wood Johnson University and Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's hospitals in New Brunswick, N.J., and as COO and CNO of Cooper University Health Care in Camden, N.J. Ms. Conners' departure from Jefferson comes as it welcomes new CEO, Joseph Cacchione, MD, who will join the system from Ascension and begin his role Sept. 6. n

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