CommonSpirit Health co-CEO to retire, leaving one man in charge of health care system
The parent company of Dignity Health, CommonSpirit Health, announced this week that one of its co-chief executive officers will retire from the health care system June 30.
Kevin E. Lofton was the CEO at Catholic Health Initiatives when the Denver-based company announced a merger with Dignity in 2017. The two companies officially merged in February 2019. This summer, Lofton will leave the reins of CommonSpirit to his co-CEO, Lloyd Dean, who was the longtime CEO of Dignity prior to the merger.
Tessie Guillermo, chair of the CommonSpirit board of directors, described Lofton, 65, as an exceptionally accomplished and influential leader in the health care industry. She said the board decided to give him the honorary title CEO emeritus of CommonSpirit Health to recognize his lasting imprint on the organization and health care in general.
“We have been lucky to be on this journey under the leadership and expertise of both Kevin and Lloyd as they worked side-by-side in the office of the CEO,” Guillermo said. “We are confident that under Lloyd’s leadership we will be well-positioned to transform how we deliver care across the 21 states we serve.”
Under Lofton’s leadership, Catholic Health Initiatives expanded beyond being a $6 billion hospital company to became a diversified $15.5 billion health care operation that operated in 18 states. In addition to hospitals, CHI operated outpatient clinics and surgery centers, accredited nursing colleges, home-care service agencies, long-term care facilities, and 11 clinically integrated networks focused on improving care while also reducing costs.
As chairman of the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees, Lofton was a leading voice in the organization’s Equity of Care initiative that addressed disparities in health care for ethnic and racial minorities, according to CHI.
Lofton became CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives in 2003. According to the news release, he chose to make the announcement now as Chicago-based CommonSpirit approaches its one-year anniversary because it has a strong foundation, a clear mission and strategy, and talented leadership.
Dean said: “It has been an honor to share the creation of CommonSpirit Health with Kevin, and there is no question that all of us have appreciated the gifts that he brought forward.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
