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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
704.733.5797
Premier Inc. plans transition in executive leadership
CEO Rick Norling to serve through June 30, 2009
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (October 16, 2008) – Richard A. (Rick) Norling will retire as president and chief executive officer of Premier Inc., the nationwide healthcare alliance, on June 30, 2009, the end of his current contract term.
A process is underway to have a successor identified well before then and ensure a smooth transition, said Premier Board Chair Lowell C. Kruse, president and CEO of Heartland Health in St. Joseph, Mo. Norling has been planning for his eventual retirement for some time and the succession planning process allows for orderly transition before he leaves.
"We are fortunate to have Rick’s ongoing leadership through mid-2009 and the opportunity to go forward with no gap in direction and momentum," Kruse said, citing benefits of Premier’s following best practices of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award with ongoing succession planning.
Norling first joined Premier as chief operating officer in 1997, the year after Premier was created through the mergers of three smaller organizations. He became its president and CEO in 1998. Earlier, he was president and chief executive officer of Fairview Hospital and Healthcare System, headquartered in Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota.
"The strong Premier alliance that exists today has been very much shaped by Rick’s vision, strategic thinking, and passion for building an excellent organization rooted in values," Kruse said.
The Premier Board and its committees are engaged in the customary work associated with identifying a successor leader, Kruse reported. An executive search firm, Spencer Stuart, is engaged to assist the board, and, consistent with best-practice principles, external and internal candidates are to be considered.
About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
The Premier healthcare alliance is more
than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 64,000-plus other healthcare sites working
together to improve healthcare quality and affordability. Owned by
not-for-profit hospitals, Premier maintains the
nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes
information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader
in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National
Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has offices
in San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington. Follow Premier on
Twitter.