Main Line Health selects new CEO, and more | MED MOVES

Edward Jimenez has been named the new president and CEO of Main Line Health.

Edward Jimenez

Jimenez is currently the president and CEO of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. He will succeed longtime Main Line Health CEO Jack Lynch, who is retiring.

Jimenez will begin his new role at Main Line Health June 6.

"I am incredibly excited and deeply honored to have the opportunity to lead Main Line Health. I look forward to working with the dedicated colleagues and medical staff who are integral to providing exceptional care to our community," Jimenez said in a statement.

"I look forward to building on the system's legacy of excellence by continuing to advance growth strategies that ensure Main Line Health remains a healthcare leader for generations to come,” he said.

Under his leadership, University Hospital began a $1.8 billion campus renovation and expansion project.

Jimenez brings nearly 30 years of healthcare leadership to Main Line Health. He also served as CEO of UF Health for nearly 10 years. He also held leadership roles at St. Joseph's Healthcare System, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Steve Higgins, chair of the Main Line Health board of governors, said he is confident that Jimenez will build on the system’s success.

“His leadership, vision and unwavering commitment to healthcare excellence make him the ideal person to guide the system into the future," Higgins said in a statement.

Juan Carlos Salazar, MD

Vanderbilt University Medical Center appoints chair of pediatrics

Juan Carlos Salazar, MD, has been named the chair of the pediatrics department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and physician-in-chief for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

His appointment will also include being professor of pediatrics.

Salazar is currently chair of the pediatrics department at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and executive vice president and physician-in-chief at Connecticut Children’s.

Salazar brings three decades of experience in academic medicine and leadership. He said his work in Connecticut has been “the greatest honor of my career.”

He looks forward to his new role at Vanderbilt.

“My vision as the new chair of the department of pediatrics at VUMC and physician-in-chief at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is to transform the landscape of pediatric health care through innovative, compassionate and comprehensive care for every child and family served by the health system,” Salazar said in a statement.

“I will do so by inspiring confidence, involving our community, training the best generation of pediatricians, and advancing pediatric research and innovation.”

Jeff Balser, MD, president and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said Salazar “is ideally suited to help us further advance our ambitious goals for child health.”

Robert Parker

St. Francis-Emory Healthcare gets new CEO

Robert Parker has been named chief executive officer of St. Francis-Emory Healthcare in Columbus, Georgia.

Part of ScionHealth, St. Francis-Emory Healthcare operates two hospital campuses with 376 beds, serving west Georgia and east Alabama.

Parker most recently served as CEO of Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, a 295-bed acute care Lifepoint Health facility in Kentucky. He has spent two decades in the healthcare industry, and also spent 16 years in the engineering sector.

“It’s been an absolute honor and privilege to join an extraordinarily talented team of physicians, clinicians and support staff at St. Francis-Emory Healthcare,” Parker said in a statement. “Columbus and the surrounding communities are simply wonderful and together we look forward to carrying on the incredible work this hospital is already doing, improving the health of those we serve.”

During his work with the Lifepoint Health system, Parker served as president of the system’s Central Kentucky East market, which includes Clark Regional Medical Center and Bourbon Community Hospital.

Patricia Donley

Wellspan Health names chief nursing executive

Patricia Donley has been named senior vice president and chief nursing executive for the WellSpan Health system in Pennsylvania.

Donley has been part of WellSpan for more than three decades, beginning her time with the system as a volunteer assisting nurses at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon. She has held a host of leadership roles within the organization.

Kasey Paulus, executive vice president and chief operating officer, WellSpan Health, praised her focus on nursing operations and improvement.

“Her vision and tireless dedication to our care teams, as well as her active work in our communities, makes her an excellent fit for our executive team,” Paulus said in a statement.

The health system cited Donley’s leadership in securing a donation from Jeanne and Ed Arnold to establish the Jeanne Donlevy Arnold Center for Nursing Innovation.

WellSpan operates nine hospitals across central and southern Pennsylvania.