Hospitals

Mayo Clinic CEO will retire at the end of 2018

Dr. John Noseworthy plans to retire from his post as president and CEO of Mayo Clinic at the end of 2018. The health system hopes to pin down a suitable successor by the early fall.

Dr. John Noseworthy

Dr. John Noseworthy has unveiled plans to retire from his post as president and CEO of Mayo Clinic at the end of this year.

He has served in his current role for nine years, but has been with Mayo in various capacities for a total of 28 years.

In a statement, he said:

I am honored that the board of trustees asked me to serve another year, through the end of 2018. 2017 was an extraordinary year for Mayo Clinic, and I look foward to working with our leadership team throughout 2018 to continue to strengthen Mayo Clinic and advance our humanitarian mission.

Samuel Di Piazza, chair of the health system’s board of trustees, said Mayo is currently forming a committee to search for the new CEO. The goal, he noted, is to find a suitable successor by the early fall so he or she has time to work with Noseworthy and learn the ropes.

The Rochester, Minnesota-based organization has a pretty strict policy on who that new leader can be. Only current Mayo Clinic physician leaders are eligible for the CEO role, according to a fact sheet.

“We would have welcomed Dr. Noseworthy serving even longer, but we respect his personal decision to retire and are confident in the strong pool of succession candidates,” Di Piazza said in a statement.

The announcement of Noseworthy’s retirement comes a little less than a year after he was under fire for telling Mayo employees they should “prioritize” treating patients with commercial insurance over those with Medicare or Medicaid if their conditions are the same. The Star Tribune obtained a transcript of the 2016 videotaped speech to employees.

Noseworthy later said his remarks had been taken out of context and that he regrets having used the word “prioritization.”

He’s not the only well-known healthcare CEO to step down. Last year, Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove announced his intention to leave his post. As of January 1,  Tomislav “Tom” Mihaljevic took on the CEO position, while Cosgrove began serving in an advisory role.

Photo: Mayo Clinic

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