Carolinas HealthCare on Thursday named Eugene Woods president and CEO of the Charlotte, N.C.-based 39-hospital health system.
Woods, 51, will begin his new position April 28. He takes the reins of the public not-for-profit system from Michael Tarwater, who is retiring after serving as CEO since 2002. Tarwater will stay on at Carolinas until June 30 to bridge the transition, according to a news release.
“Gene is a proven leader with extraordinary experience,” Edward Brown III, chairman of the board of commissioners, said in a statement. “We know that he is the right person to lead Carolinas HealthCare System as we continue our journey as one of the leading healthcare systems in the nation, providing incredible care to all of the communities we serve.”
Woods serves as president and COO of Irving, Texas-based Christus Health. In his time at Christus, Woods has led acute, post-acute and international operations for Christus facilities in the U.S., Mexico and Chile. Christus in February 2013 announced plans to enter into a joint venture with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a Catholic Church-owned Chilean university.
Woods previously worked at at Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, where he served as CEO of St. Joseph Hospital System and as a senior VP working on national initiatives for the organization. Woods has also served as COO of the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., a teaching hospital with 968 beds.
Overall, Woods has accrued 24 years of leadership experience, and also was elected chairman of the American Hospital Association this past July. He will begin serving in that role next year, according to the release.
Carolinas reported total revenue of just over $5 billion in fiscal 2014, up 4.8% from fiscal 2013, according to Modern Healthcare's Healthcare Systems Financial Database. The system also reported an operating margin of 3.8% in 2014, up from 2.5% the prior year.
