Originally Released: November 14, 2000
Contact: Lee Kennedy at Maryland General, (leekennedy2@hotmail.com),
410-225-8352
Ellen Beth Levitt at University of Maryland, (eblevitt@umm.edu),
410-328-8919
Timothy Miller is named to take over as CEO of Maryland General
James R. Wood, who transformed Maryland General Hospital over the past 17 years into a successful, thriving facility with more than 110,000 patient visits each year, has announced his retirement as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Maryland General Health Systems. Mr. Wood, who is 61, said his retirement will take effect on January 31, 2001.
Succeeding Mr. Wood as CEO of Maryland General Health Systems will be Timothy D. Miller, who has held leadership positions at Maryland General Hospital since 1985, including the job of the hospital's President and Chief Operating Officer for the past ten years.
Two years ago, Maryland General was transformed from a stand-alone hospital to a stronger member of an influential regional health system, when Mr. Wood negotiated an affiliation agreement with the University of Maryland Medical System. That agreement enabled Maryland General to develop and expand clinical programs and continue a comprehensive array of capital improvements.
"The advantages of joining with an outstanding academic medical system have included greater financial stability, program development in various areas, including vascular surgery and HIV care, and the funding to improve our facilities. Today, I'm satisfied that Maryland General is on the right track and that our momentum will continue."
"Jim Wood is a strong leader who brought Maryland General through some very difficult economic times. He enabled the organization to provide high quality patient care and achieve success at many levels," says Morton I. Rapoport, M.D., President and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System. He adds, "Jim has laid the foundation for the hospital's continued, vital presence in Baltimore for years to come."
Fred Kelly, Ph.D, who is Vice-Chairman of the Maryland General Board of Directors, agrees that Mr. Wood has done an extraordinary job of steering the hospital on the right course.
"Jim came to Maryland General at a time when the hospital was struggling financially, but he turned things around. Today, the hospital provides comprehensive services, is on the leading edge of many health care developments, and contributes significantly to the health of citizens in Baltimore and throughout Maryland," says Dr. Kelly.
Mr. Wood came to Maryland General in 1983 from Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, Ga., where he was chief executive officer. After his arrival in Baltimore, he successfully re-engineered Maryland General Hospital to better serve its urban downtown and West Baltimore community, after the hospital withdrew plans to relocate in Hunt Valley.
Under his stewardship, Maryland General has been devoted to the health care needs of the citizens of Baltimore City, for whom the hospital has provided care since its founding in 1881.
In the past two years, inpatient hospital admissions have grown more than 20 percent, to 10,500 per year, and 100 more physicians have joined the medical staff, which now numbers 500. Its leading programs include rehabilitation, ophthalmology, psychiatry, otolaryngology, and obstetrics-which has had a 50 percent increase in patients during the last three years.
Maryland General has maintained an ambitious capital project program with the purchase of new equipment and technology, as well as the construction of new facilities and the renovation of every patient care area. More than $80 million has been spent to modernize Maryland General's campus and to begin new services and programs.
Another of Mr. Wood's accomplishments was the formation of Maryland Physicians Care, Inc. (MPC), a Medicaid managed care organization that is owned by four separate health care systems and provides access to care for more than 30,000 state Medicaid recipients.
Mr. Wood was instrumental in starting Maryland General's regional ambulatory care centers; forming a Community Health Education Center to provide screening programs and preventive care to the community, and opening the Maryland General-Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Regional Network, which includes a 33-bed unit that cares for patients with brain injuries and those who require comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation.
In 1996, Maryland General expanded its Emergency Department and created new space for its Department of Ophthalmology and the Department of Otolaryngology. Two years later, it opened the Family Health Center, where care is offered in more than 30 specialty areas. Most recently, the hospital constructed a new cafeteria and lobby that opened in July, and renovated its obstetrics and psychiatry units.
"I hope to continue the progress we have made under Jim's leadership. We provide excellent patient care in an efficient manner and our medical staff is outstanding. We have a great deal of excitement about our growth and success, especially with our affiliation with the University of Maryland Medical System, and I plan to keep that enthusiasm going," says Mr. Miller.
"Tim is a very talented health care executive who has demonstrated outstanding administrative performance as Maryland General's President and Chief Operating Officer and he is well respected by hospital employees and the medical staff. I am confident in his abilities to lead Maryland General to continued excellent performance," says Dr. Rapoport.
Prior to coming to Maryland General in 1985, Miller was a senior administrator at Prince George's General Hospital and Medical Center for 12 years. Miller received his Master's Degree in Business Administration and also his Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University.
Mr. Wood is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and served as a member of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission from 1987 to 1995. He also has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Hospital Association since 1983, and was a member of its Executive Council from 1991 to 1994.
Mr. Wood graduated from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Va., received his Master's Degree in hospital administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., and earned a certificate in healthcare finance from the Executive Graduate Program in Healthcare Financial Management at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
"I am most proud to have been part of an outstanding, devoted team of employees and an excellent physician staff, and I will miss working with them," says Mr. Wood.
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