The former CEO of an Oregon hospital system has been chosen as the next president of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Rand O’Leary will assume his new role at the Bangor hospital on Dec. 9, according to Chris Facchini, a spokesperson for EMMC’s parent organization, Northern Light Health. The hospital, with about 4,500 employees, has been without a permanent leader since April.
O’Leary left his last position as the CEO of PeaceHealth Oregon, a Catholic health system that included four hospitals, in April 2018, according to Modern Healthcare. At the time, no reason was given for his departure. Northern Light spokesperson Suzanne Spruce said that O’Leary left the position voluntarily. He has worked in a consulting role since his departure, Spruce said.
O’Leary did not respond to a message seeking comment, and Northern Light Health said he would not be available for an interview this week.
O’Leary started at PeaceHealth Oregon in 2014, serving as a chief administrative officer at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, Oregon, before becoming the organization’s CEO in July 2015, according to The Register-Guard newspaper.
Before that, O’Leary spent eight years in various executive roles with the Henry Ford Health System in his home state of Michigan, according to his website.
EMMC’s last president, Donna Russell-Cook, stepped down in April. Timothy Dentry, Northern Light’s chief operating officer, has been serving as the interim president since then.
Northern Light Health did not respond to a request for O’Leary’s salary. In 2017, Russell-Cook earned $406,483 in her role as the hospital’s president, according to its most recently available tax filings.
O’Leary will work closely with Dentry during the transition and will report to Dentry, according to Facchini. He will also become a senior vice president for the parent group.
Northern Light Health selected O’Leary after conducting a national search for Russell-Cook’s replacement and interviewing “several candidates from various backgrounds,” Facchini said.
The announcement comes less than a week after Northern Light Health said that its president and CEO, Michelle Hood, is departing for a job at the American Hospital Association.