Norton Healthcare CEO Stephen Williams retiring at year-end, and other newsmakers

Stephen Williams, the longtime CEO of Norton Healthcare, will retire at year-end. He will be succeeded by Russell Cox effective Jan. 1.

Williams, 65, is retiring from the Louisville, Ky.-based system after 23 years as chief executive. Under his leadership, the system grew to five hospitals and revenue increased from $269 million to more than $2 billion.

Cox, 58, has served as president and COO of Norton Healthcare for three years. He joined Norton in 2000 as VP of support services.

Greg Strahan has been named president and CEO of Owensboro (Ky.) Health after serving as interim CEO since April. He succeeds Philip Patterson, who resigned from his position in March.Strahan, 62, previously served as COO and VP of business development at the two-hospital system.

Under his leadership, the system opened Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, a 477-bed facility. The system's medical group, One Health, grew from 19 providers to more than 100.

Michele Sutton has been promoted to president and CEO of North Oaks Health System, based in Hammond, La., effective Jan. 1. She succeeds James Cathey, who will transition to a new, still-to-be-determined role at the system after 30 years as CEO.

Since 2006, Sutton has served as executive VP and COO of the two-hospital system. She also acts as administrator of North Oaks Medical Center and chairman of North Oaks Physician Group, which represents nearly 100 doctors.

Chad Towner has been named CEO of St. Joseph Health System in north central Indiana, effective Oct. 14. The two-hospital system is part of Trinity Health. He succeeds Albert Gutierrez, who is retiring after five years as chief executive.

Towner, 43, was most recently CEO of Dupont Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. He began his healthcare career as a physical therapist for Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, which is part of Lutheran Health Network. He went on to hold several executive positions in acute care and ambulatory settings.

Dr. Donald Henderson, an epidemiologist celebrated for leading the successful global campaign to eradicate smallpox, died Aug. 19 in Maryland at age 87.

From 1966 to 1977, Henderson served as director of the World Health Organization's smallpox eradication campaign. In 1980, it was determined that the mass anti-smallpox vaccination campaign had succeeded in wiping out the disease, which killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century. The feat was regarded as one of the greatest-ever public health triumphs.

Henderson served as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health from 1977 to 1990, HHS senior science adviser on bioterrorism and other issues, and director of HHS' Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

At the time of his death, Henderson was a professor of public health and medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.