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Don McKenna said he was resigning to be closer to family in east central Florida. He became CEO in 1999.
By SUZANNAH GONZALES
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2003
CRYSTAL RIVER -- Don McKenna has resigned as chief executive officer of Seven Rivers Community Hospital, a position he has held since 1999.
His last day of work will be March 18.
McKenna, 35, is leaving to move closer to family in east central Florida, but he wasn't more specific in his explanation, said Dorothy Pernu, the hospital's marketing representative.
Pernu said McKenna announced his resignation with Don Steigman, senior vice president of Tenet HealthSystem for the Florida region, during a Thursday morning meeting of the hospital's governing board.
The resignation came as a surprise, she said.
In a letter to hospital employees, read to a Citrus Times reporter by Pernu, Steigman wrote: "It is our goal to find a chief executive officer that will continue to move the hospital forward on its path of success."
While McKenna has been at Seven Rivers, it has been recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation in a ranking by an Illinois company. And the hospital received "excellent results" on a survey by a health-care organization accreditation commission, noted Steigman in the letter.
Pernu said Steigman also pointed out that patient, employee and physician satisfaction has improved.
The search for the hospital's 10th CEO will be conducted by Tenet, of which Seven Rivers is a subsidiary, Pernu said.
Before coming to the 128-bed hospital, McKenna, from Long Island, N.Y., was the chief operating officer at North Ridge Medical Center, a larger Tenet facility in Fort Lauderdale.
Pernu said McKenna is fond of the hospital and county because his two young sons were born here.
She did not know where McKenna would be working next.
"He told me it was one of the most difficult personal professional decisions he's had to make in his life," Pernu said.
"It was due to the outpouring of community support to him and his family."
-- Suzannah Gonzales can be reached at 860-7312 or sgonzales@sptimes.com.