Ruth Brinkley will leave her role as president and CEO of KentuckyOne Health, Inc., effective July 14.
Chuck Neumann, the current interim president of University of Louisville Hospital, has been named to serve as interim president and CEO of the company.
Ruth Brinkley
Ruth Brinkley
“Ruth has led KentuckyOne Health since the very beginning in 2012. As CEO, she developed the statewide structure for a complex organization, and established the vision and purpose for our path forward,” said Richard Schultz, chair of the KentuckyOne Health
Board of Directors, in a release announcing Brinkley’s departure. “As we move into the next evolution of our health care system, I am excited for her as she also enters the next phase of her life and career.”
Chuck Neumann previously announced that he would leave his role at ULH when operation of the hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center transitions to University Medical Center on July 1. He brings 40 years of health care and management experience to KentuckyOne Health.
In mid-May, KentuckyOne Health announced plans to sell Jewish Hospital, along with some other facilities in the Louisville area, so it could “focus its operations on a smaller footprint centered in central and eastern Kentucky.”
Facilities to be maintained by KentuckyOne Health under its new structure will include Our Lady of Peace, Flaget Memorial Hospital, Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East, Saint Joseph Jessamine, Saint Joseph Mount Sterling, Saint Joseph London and Saint Joseph Berea, as well as KentuckyOne Health Partners Clinically Integrated Network and KentuckyOne Health Medical Group provider practices in central and eastern Kentucky and Bardstown.
While noting that KentuckyOne, along with its employees and physicians, has helped to break down barriers and introduced new and advanced models of care in its communities, Brinkley also noted at that time, “The great change and great uncertainty in the health care industry has strained our financial health. Market forces have evolved to the point that change is needed to allow ongoing support for health and wellness in Kentucky.”
The company is currently working to identify possible new owners for its Louisville facilities, and it will continue to deliver care and support services at all facilities and provider practices throughout the transition.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve as president and CEO of KentuckyOne Health since 2012,” Brinkley said in announcing her decision to resign. “While I'm leaving the organization, I will continue my professional life through mentoring and developing leaders for success in executive management and Board of director roles, and other leadership positions. I will also devote time to supporting organizations in their strategic growth and development through my service as a health care executive and as a board member. These activities will continue to receive my professional attention, my time and my passion.”