UMC chief officer steps down

February 15, 2006
After two years at the helm of University Medical Center, Chief Executive Officer Mark Crawford stepped down from his post Tuesday afternoon.
A statement released by UMC said Crawford, who came to the Lebanon hospital four months after the September 2003 retirement of former UMC CEO Larry Keller, intends to seek other employment opportunities with UMC's parent company, Florida-based Health Management Associates (HMA).
Keller's departure came a little over a month after HMA inked a deal to buy the 257-bed Lebanon hospital from Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Prior to taking the reins at UMC in January 2004, Crawford served as chief executive officer of a smaller HMA hospital, the 80-bed Lee Regional Medical Center in Pennington Gap, Va., for 2 1/2 years.
Before accepting the post at Lee Regional Medical Center, Crawford was chief operating officer of the Midwest Regional Medical Center in Midwest City, Okla.
Crawford, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, told The Lebanon Democrat in January 2004 he hoped his position at UMC would ultimately quash his reputation as a turnaround man for HMA.
"I'm starting to get an MO of that – this will be my third turnaround," he said. "It's certainly not a lifestyle that I want. I want to establish a home. I want to establish friends longer-term than I have in the past."
Former Lebanon Special Schools District Director Andy Brummett, a member of the hospital's board of directors, said Tuesday Crawford's resignation was not entirely unexpected, noting he had "heard that this might be fixing to happen."
"I think Mark had done a pretty good job," Brummett said. "He appeared to be active in the community, and there's a bunch of good things that had gone on there at the hospital. They had revamped the emergency room, and they were looking into putting a good deal of coins into the radiology (department)."
According to a statement released by UMC Director of Business Development and Marketing Anna-Lee Cockrill, an estimated $8.5 million was invested in the hospital since Crawford was named CEO.
"We are thankful to Mr. Crawford for his hard work and for his service to University Medical Center over the last few years," C. Scott Campbell, vice president of the Mid-Atlantic Division of HMA, said in the statement. "We wish him the best and are confident that his considerable talents will bring him success in his next position."
Campbell is slated to serve as the hospital's interim CEO until a permanent replacement is named.
A call to HMA's corporate headquarters in Naples, Fla., was not returned Tuesday.
Crawford is the second executive at UMC to leave in recent months. Former UMC Chief Operating Officer Corey Ewing recently left the hospital for a similar post at Sumner Regional Medical Center.
Staff Writer Brian Harville can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 16 or by e-mail at brian.harville@lebanondemocrat.com.