After six years, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center CEO Diana Hendel has announced her resignation from the company, according to a statement issued Thursday by MemorialCare.
The health system has been in discussions with Handel about her future plans over the last four months, since she informed the company about her decision to go on a medical leave, said MemorialCare spokeswoman Richele Steele in a statement.
Hendel, who also serves as CEO of Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach and Community Hospital Long Beach, announced she will not be returning to the company, in order to focus on her health and family for the immediate future.
“Over the past six years Diana has made an outstanding investment in leadership development at Long Beach Memorial (LBMMC), Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach and Community Hospital Long Beach and established a strong and effective team,” Steele said. “This positions MemorialCare well to make a smooth leadership transition.”
Steele went on to say that Hendel “has expressed how difficult it is to need to leave a job that was her calling and an organization, team and community that she loves.”
Succession planning for LBMMC will begin immediately by Bary Arbuckle, CEO of MemorialCare Health System, and Tammie McMann Brailsford, COO of MemorialCare Health System.
“In the meantime, Tammie will continue to work directly with the Long Beach Operating Group, to ensure our quality, growth and operational strategies advance with the same sense of purpose that Diana expected during her years as CEO of the Long Beach campuses,” Steele said.
Hendel was appointed CEO of Long Beach Memorial in January 2009. She began her career at Long Beach Memorial as a clinical pharmacy resident, where she stayed before undertaking leadership roles at various MemorialCare hospitals. She served as vice president of Anaheim Memorial, executive director of MemorialCare and the Physician Society, and administrator for the San Clemente campus of Saddleback Memorial. She also served as COO of Long Beach Memorial for two years before she was appointed CEO.