David Cress, president and CEO of 416-bed North Memorial Health Care in Robbinsdale, Minn., was arrested Wednesday and faces a misdemeanor charge of soliciting for prostitution. Cress, 60, was jailed and released on bond Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Larry Taylor, chairman of the board of trustees at North Memorial, declined to comment on the matter outside of a written statement: “This is a troubling, personal situation, but North Memorial's focus will continue to be on providing our patients and their families with excellent care.”
Cress is secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota Hospital Association board of directors. He has been an executive with North Memorial since 1982 and is also listed as chairman of a separate outpatient urgent-care provider, WestHealth, according to his North Memorial biography.
A spokesman with the Richfield (Minn.) Police Department said Cress was arrested in a vice operation being conducted by the department but declined to comment further.
Taylor's statement did not say whether the arrest will affect Cress' employment with the stand-alone hospital. The state hospital association and WestHealth declined to comment on the arrest.
