Longtime Community Health CEO Bryan Mills to retire
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Community Health Network announced Tuesday that long-time CEO Bryan Mills will retire at the end of 2025 after 40 years with the nonprofit hospital system.
Mills, who has been president and CEO of Community Health since 2009, said he decided after milestones that included the 40th anniversary celebration of Community Hospital North and the opening of a new campus in Westfield, that it was time to “pass the baton.”
His latest contract ends later this year, he said.
Mills joined Community in 1985 as controller when it was a single hospital. He became part of a leadership team that opened Community North and later served as CEO of Visionary Enterprises Inc., a for-profit affiliate of Community, from 1992 to 2009.
Today, Community operates five acute-care hospitals and will open a sixth in Westfield. The system also includes a cardiovascular hospital, a recovery center and three rehabilitation hospitals. It is also adding freestanding behavioral health hospitals.
Community said in a news release that under Mills’ leadership, the network also expanded to include numerous ambulatory practices, surgery centers, virtual care services, and advanced cancer care through a partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Mills said in a statement that despite the growth, the hospital system never changed its name.
Community, he said, “reflects our unchanging mission to enhance health and well-being across our communities.”
“Our dedication and commitment have always been to patients, our communities and our caregivers,” he said. “I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside so many wonderful patients, caregivers, and colleagues for four decades and it has been the greatest honor of my life.”
Rafael A. Sanchez, president of the Community Health Network board of trustees, said in a statement that Mills’ “vision, integrity and unwavering commitment to our mission have shaped Community into one of the most respected health systems in the region.”
He said the board is “is committed to finding a successor who will build on this strong foundation and lead us into the future.”
The hospital system said a search is underway for Mills’ successor.