With the merger of Indian River Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic all but a done deal, the trickle-down of talent has already begun. Two top physicians at the prestigious health system’s Cleveland flagship hospital have been tapped for leadership positions affecting the Vero Beach hospital.
Gregory Rosencrance, an internal medicine doctor who heads Cleveland Clinic’s Medicine Institute, has been named president of Indian River Medical Center. The publicly-owned hospital is expected to become Cleveland Clinic Indian River as soon as state and federal regulatory agencies have cleared the merger, expected sometime in January.
Rosencrance, who joined Cleveland Clinic after a long tenure at West Virginia University, will replace interim IRMC President and CEO Karen Davis, who has led the hospital since the retirement of Jeff Susi at the end of 2017. Davis is going back to her previous position as a healthcare consultant with the firm Alvarez and Marsal.
The move to Vero will be a return to Florida for Rosencrance. He formerly chaired the Department of Internal Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston. Since February 2016, he has chaired Cleveland Clinic’s Medicine Institute, which includes primary care, family medicine, pediatrics and infectious diseases among other specialties.
Rosencrance’s expertise in population health is likely to please trustees of the Indian River County Hospital District, which owns the hospital on behalf of county taxpayers. The Hospital District’s focus is on taking care of the county’s medically underserved communities.
A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Rosencrance joined Cleveland Clinic in 2014 after 23 years of teaching internal medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Charleston division. The chair of the department of internal medicine there, Rosencrance also served as the campus’s interim dean. Rosencrance earned his undergraduate degree at WVU and went to medical school at Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va., returning to Charleston for his residency.
Another key post affecting medical staff at Indian River: the Florida division chief of staff. That post will be filled by Dr. Joseph Iannotti, co-director of Cleveland Clinic’s Orthopedic and Rheumatologic Institute. Iannotti, who has been with Cleveland Clinic since 2000, maintains a clinical practice as an orthopedic surgeon and has a joint appointment in the department of biomedical engineering.
Iannotti will oversee the physicians and staff in what is expected to be a network of five community hospitals, if all goes well with state and federal agencies, the last step in what has been a year-long partnering process.
He went to medical school at Northwestern University and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania where he did his residency and stayed on for 20 years as a faculty member prior to joining Cleveland Clinic.
In addition to Indian River, Martin Health System’s three hospitals are in the final stages of becoming part of Cleveland Clinic. Martin Health CEO Rob Lord will retain his position overseeing Martin Medical Center, Tradition Medical Center and Martin Memorial South hospital. Cleveland Clinic Weston has been the lone hospital in the health system’s Florida division, though a rigorous expansion of out-patient services has taken place in recent years in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
“As we continue to extend our presence in Florida, this new structure will further Cleveland Clinic’s mission and allow us to stay true to improving the lives of as many patients as possible,” said Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic, M.D. in a press release.
Among the changes announced Wednesday, Dr. Wael Barsoum will become CEO and president of the entire Florida division. The renowned orthopedic surgeon who did his residency in Naples, Fla. Before moving to Weston, has played a critical role in partnering with IRMC and Martin Health.
