MedCath (NASDAQ:MDTH) CEO Edwin French is stepping down from the company and will be replaced by current CFO Art Parker.
French’s retirement as chief executive and board member of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based hospital operator will take effect on Sept. 23. MedCath Controller Lora Ramsey will step into the CFO spot vacated by Parker.
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French has served as MedCath’s president and CEO since 2006 after serving the previous year as interim chief operating officer. Parker joined MedCath in 2001 following various positions at Bank of America.
MedCath, which focuses on cardiac care facilities, is in the process of dissolving itself as a company. For much of the last year, MedCath has been selling off hospitals or its stakes in hospitals. MedCath has been losing money since 2008 and in spring 2010, the company formed a strategic committee to consider a sale of the company or its assets. In the last year, MedCath has completed 10 transactions that involved sales of facilities in locations such as Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Texas and North Carolina. MedCath disclosed to shareholders in May that it was preparing to dissolve as a company.
French will depart from MedCath with a lump-sum payment of more than $1.7 million. On Sept. 14, MedCath entered into new termination agreements with its top executives in anticipation that their employment would be terminated in connection with the sale of company assets, the company said in securities filings. Parker is set to receive $901,254; Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical and Compliance Officer Joan McCanless will receive $633,888. In exchange for entering into the termination agreements, the three executives agree to release claims to any cash severance benefits that they would have been eligible to receive. Confidentiality provisions in the executives original employment agreements remain in effect.
