Beaumont CMO Diokno announces retirement

Beaumont Health System Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ananias Diokno has announced his retirement.

Diokno will step down as executive VP in June before leaving three-hospital Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont in September. He's served in those roles since September 2006. Dr. David Wood, president of Beaumont Physician Partners, will replace Diokno as CMO. Wood will also remain in his role with Beaumont Physician Partners. Wood assumed that job in 2011 after leaving the chief of the division of urologic oncology at the University of (Ann Arbor) Michigan Health System. Their ages weren't provided.

Before taking CMO post, Diokno served for 25 years as chair of Beaumont Hospital-Royal Oak's urology department. Officials also credit him with a large role in creating Beaumont Physician Partners, the system's administrative organization for hospital-physician relations.

This news comes on the heels of opposition being voiced against a proposed merger between Beaumont and six-hospital Henry Ford Health System, which is headquartered in Detroit. Five Beaumont clinical chiefs on Tuesday submitted a letter to the system's board, according to Crain's Detroit Business. The parties signed a letter of intent in November to create an eight-hospital system for southeast Michigan. It's unclear if Diokno's announcement is related to the merger, as Beaumont officials declined to comment.

Follow Ashok Selvam on Twitter: @MH_aselvam