Who: Dr. Thomas Malone, 57
New role: CEO of Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, effective Jan. 1. He is replacing CEO Tom Strauss, who will retire after 15 years in the position. Malone is COO at Summa, a position he was promoted to in April after only six months with Summa.
Priorities in new role: After assembling his new team, Malone will work on transitioning Summa to a population-health model. “I really believe that where most places are going is to population-health management—moving outside of the hospital and taking the risk for a population.”
Serving a crowded market: Other systems such as Cleveland-based University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic have increased their presence in the area. “We knew there was going to be more competition, and really there's no way to survive on your own. The only way to survive long term is by developing affiliations and economies of scale. We're really trying to invest hard in primary care, behavioral health, women's health and geriatrics—these things were once marginal and now are really the platform of wellness.”
On being a physician CEO: “Your first focus is looking at how your decisions impact delivery of clinical care, and I think it gives you an opportunity to focus on the perspective from a patient standpoint because you've dealt with that in the exam room. Add that to the operations side and it gives you a different perspective.”
