Douglas L. Rahn, DBA, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Memorial Health System, has been selected by the Passavant Area Board of Directors as the next president and CEO of Passavant Area Hospital, pending the successful completion of Passavant’s affiliation with the health system.
Rahn has served as Memorial’s chief operating officer for the past six years and has been with the health system since 2006. Prior to joining Memorial, Doug held the role of senior vice president and COO for Leesburg Regional Medical Center, part of an integrated healthcare system in Florida, and as CEO for two acute-care hospitals in Michigan. He holds a doctorate of business administration degree from Nova Southeastern University, a master of business administration degree from Illinois State University and a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
Janet M. Terry, chairwoman of the Passavant Area Hospital board of directors, said board members unanimously agreed that selecting Rahn as the hospital’s next president would be in the community’s best interest.
“Dr. Rahn’s strong experience in healthcare leadership and familiarity with the community and its citizens made him a very desirable candidate,” Terry said.
Rahn’s many accomplishments include the successful implementation of Memorial’s patient-satisfaction and cost-reduction initiatives and completion of a long-term facility planning study, which has resulted in several facility expansion projects for the organization, including Memorial Medical Center’s historic Advancing Care by Design expansion project, which is currently underway.
“In the time he has served as Memorial’s COO, Doug has done outstanding work managing the overall direction, operations and coordination of the health system,” said Edgar J. Curtis, president and chief executive officer of Memorial Health System. “The strong skill-set Doug provides to Memorial will help ensure Passavant’s successful integration into our health system. I’m confident the residents of Morgan County and the surrounding communities will benefit from Doug’s strong healthcare management skills and his personal investment and interest in the area.”
Rahn, who resides in rural Morgan County with his wife, Mickie, said he looks forward to working alongside Passavant’s 900 full- and part-time employees, volunteers and partnering physicians.
“In the time I’ve spent interacting with the team at Passavant, I’ve been impressed with the hard work all are doing to ensure their patients and loved ones receive great care,” Rahn said. “I look forward to joining the team and am very optimistic about what we can accomplish together.”
Rahn will assume the role of Passavant president and CEO from Chester Wynn, who is retiring upon completion of the pending affiliation. Memorial and Passavant announced plans to affiliate in January, following unanimous approval by members of both organizations’ boards of directors.
Decisions regarding Memorial Health System’s next chief operating officer will be made in the coming weeks.