Chutes & Ladders—Tenet Healthcare, LifePoint hospitals bring on new CEOs

Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.


Murali Naidu, M.D.

(Tenet)

Tenet Healthcare

Murali Naidu, M.D., was named the new CEO of Doctors Hospital of Manteca, which is part of Tenet Healthcare

Naidu will take the reins on Feb. 24, including responsibility for all hospital operations, executive planning and directing medical services, officials said in a statement. He is joining the health system from Managed Care Systems in Bakersfield, California, where he is the chief physician executive and credited with supporting the onboarding of 140,000 members and 750 physicians.

He was also previously system chief clinical officer at Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Virginia, and vice president of perioperative care for Dignity Health.

Naidu earned his bachelor's degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley and his doctor of medicine degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. He has served on the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics advisory board in Los Angeles and the Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. He is a laparoscopic surgeon who practiced for more than 10 years prior to taking on full-time leadership roles.


Melody Trimble 
(LifePoint Health)

LifePoint Health

Melody Trimble was named CEO of St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Georgia, which is part of LifePoint Health.

Trimble will take the role on Feb. 10, officials said in a statement. She replaces Jerry Dooley, who has been serving as interim CEO while the hospital conducted a search for its next permanent leader.

Trimble most recently served in a dual role as CEO of Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, and as vice president for Mountain States Health Alliance’s Washington County division. She also formerly served in roles at Health Management Associates, including as president of the organization’s Health Management Group in Naples, Florida, market CEO for Sparks Medical Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, market CEO for Venice Regional Medical Center in Venice, Florida, and CEO of Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center.  

She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Eastern Kentucky University and a Master of Nursing from the University of Kentucky in Lexington.


Inspira Health

John DiAngelo will retire as president and CEO of Inspira Health at the end of the year. DiAngelo has led the organization since 2000. 

Inspira Health is a nonprofit healthcare organization that comprises three hospitals, a comprehensive cancer center, several multispecialty health centers and more than 150 access points in southern New Jersey.

Inspira Health Network’s board of trustees hired Korn Ferry to conduct a national search for the next president and CEO of Inspira Health, whom they expect will be in place by 2021.


> Brendan Cameron, the former revenue officer of Massachusetts-based Brewster Ambulance Services, says he was fired for raising concerns over wrongful billing practices. Cameron filed a lawsuit accusing the company of defrauding Medicare by charging for unnecessary ambulance rides, the Patriot Ledger reported. CEO Mark Brewster told the paper the allegations were untrue and there would be a countersuit. 

> Home-based and post-acute care solutions CareCentrix added Toby Cosgrove, M.D., former Cleveland Clinic CEO and current Google executive adviser, to its strategic advisory board.

Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College hired Paul Nielsen, vice president of strategic programs in the Optum Advanced Technology Collaborative at UnitedHealth Group, to co-teach a new course on entrepreneurial approaches in healthcare.