Cincinnati Children’s Hospital CEO to leave after 2009

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Jim Anderson, who has led Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center since since 1996, will leave at the end of this year, the hospital announced today.

The hospital hopes to find a replacement by year’s end. A committee led by hospital board Chairman Tom Cody will work with the executive search firm Heidrick & Stuggles.

Cincinnati Children’s has recently been an anomaly compared to other health system. Amid job cuts statewide the institution has continued hiring. It employs more than 11,000 people — an increase of 40 percent since 2005. The hospital has added 750 workers annually, according to a hospital press release.

Cincinnati Children’s is also second among pediatric hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. It received $101 million in its 2008 fiscal year — up from $20 million in 1996. The hospital is also positioned to win additional stem-cell funding after new federal dollars opened up earlier this year.

“My decision to step down now was made after considerable thought, as well as discussion with our board chairman, Tom Cody,” Anderson stated in the release. “We agreed this was the right time for Cincinnati Children’s to find a new leader for its next chapter in improving outcomes, patient experience and value.”

Before becoming president, Anderson served for two decades on Cincinnati Children’s board of trustees and was a partner for 24 years at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister.

He is currently chairman of the Board of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He’s also on a national advisory commission on Medicaid reform and has served on the Third Frontier Advisory Board, which helps plan investments by the state-funded organization.