Michigan Medicine CEO plans to retire

Marschall Runge, CEO of Michigan Medicine and dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, plans to retire at the end of his current contract.

Runge will step down from the roles on June 30, 2025, the Ann Arbor-based health system said in a press release Tuesday.

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He will remain with the university as a professor in the medical school. 

A replacement has not yet been named, but a new leader of the system will be announced in the coming weeks, the organization said in a press release.

Runge joined Michigan Medicine in 2015 as its CEO and the executive vice president for medical affairs at UM. He became dean of the medical school in 2016.

“It has been an honor to work with, and on behalf of, our patients, faculty, staff, learners and supporters,” Runge said in a press release. “We have evolved as an increasingly high-functioning, coordinated, innovative and inclusive organization that is one of the most respected academic medical centers in the world. This would not have been possible without the concerted efforts of our entire community.”

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Under his leadership, Michigan Medicine and the UM Health system have engaged in rapid expansion. 

UM Health is also in the middle of constructing the $920 million D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion on its Ann Arbor campus to alleviate the current capacity constraints. The 690,000-square-foot, 12-story tower will add 154 new inpatient beds, with 110 additional beds relocated from its legacy hospital, as well as new surgical suites.

The Pavilion is expected to open in the fall of 2025.

In August last year, the health system finalized its acquisition of Lansing-based Sparrow Health with six hospitals across mid-Michigan. UM plans to invest $800 million into the Sparrow system over eight years.

It’s also opened new centers in metro Grand Rapids in recent years, including the home of Grand Valley State University in Allendale in 2022. Most recently, UM Health-West, based in Grand Rapids, signed a three-year affiliation deal with Holland Hospital.

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A new 50,000-square-foot health center is also expected to open in Ypsilanti in the fall. 

“Dr. Runge elevated the health system and the medical school in profound and lasting ways. He has been a visionary leader who is forward thinking, strategic and committed to academic and clinical excellence,” UM President Santa J. Ono said in an email to faculty. “He helped guide the health system through a number of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Michigan Medicine served as a statewide resource for the most critical patients. As he steps down, he most certainly leaves a legacy of strengthening our mission and building upon Michigan Medicine’s strong foundation.” 

Prior to joining Michigan Medicine, Runge spent 15 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. 

He earned a bachelor’s and doctorate in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. 

It's unclear what Runge plans to do in retirement, but the longtime cardiologist and administrator published "Coded to Kill," a “techno-medical thriller,” in last year. The novel centers around a new electronic health record system becoming the national standard and a group of criminals exploiting that system to kill.  

In a prior conversation with Crain’s, Runge said he planned to write another book.

This story first appeared in Crain's Chicago Business.