The Lahey Health System, which was formed after the merger of Northeast Health System and the Lahey Clinic earlier this year, said that Northeast Health System President and CEO Kenneth Hanover will step down.

Denis Conroy, Lahey Health System's chief integration officer, will serve as interim president and CEO of Northeast Health System, according to a news release (PDF). He is the former executive vice president and chief financial officer at Northeast Health System.

Hanover will continue to serve as executive vice president and chief strategy officer for the Beverly, Mass.-based health system through the end of the year.

He said in the news release that “the time is right for me to step aside and afford Dr. Howard Grant the opportunity to move forward with a more integrated management structure, as I believe that is what is best for the system.”

Grant serves as president and CEO of the Lahey Health System and the Lahey Clinic.

The Massachusetts Public Health Council approved the merger in March. The Lahey system is made up of the Lahey Clinic, a 327-bed hospital in Burlington, Mass., and the 321-bed Beverly Hospital, which includes Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, Mass.