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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCommunity Health Network announced Tuesday that long-time CEO Bryan Mills will retire at the end of 2025 after 40 years with the nonprofit hospital system.
Mills, who has been president and CEO of Community Health since 2009, said he decided after milestones that included the 40th anniversary celebration of Community Hospital North and the opening of a new campus in Westfield, that it was time to “pass the baton.”
His latest contract ends later this year, he said.
Mills joined Community in 1985 as controller when it was a single hospital. He became part of a leadership team that opened Community North and later served as CEO of Visionary Enterprises Inc., a for-profit affiliate of Community, from 1992 to 2009.
Today, Community operates five acute-care hospitals and will open a sixth in Westfield. The system also includes a cardiovascular hospital, a recovery center and three rehabilitation hospitals. It is also adding freestanding behavioral health hospitals.
Community said in a news release that under Mills’ leadership, the network also expanded to include numerous ambulatory practices, surgery centers, virtual care services, and advanced cancer care through a partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Mills said in a statement that despite the growth, the hospital system never changed its name.
Community, he said, “reflects our unchanging mission to enhance health and well-being across our communities.”
“Our dedication and commitment have always been to patients, our communities and our caregivers,” he said. “I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside so many wonderful patients, caregivers, and colleagues for four decades and it has been the greatest honor of my life.”
Rafael A. Sanchez, president of the Community Health Network board of trustees, said in a statement that Mills’ “vision, integrity and unwavering commitment to our mission have shaped Community into one of the most respected health systems in the region.”
He said the board is “is committed to finding a successor who will build on this strong foundation and lead us into the future.”
The hospital system said a search is underway for Mills’ successor.
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Indiana is ranked #8 (by the Rand Corp) in “commercial hospital” prices. Community is hardly an exemplar of holding down costs. Indeed, in 2023 Community paid the Dept. of Justice $320mil as a settlement for violation of the Stark Law (related to physician compensation). In that DOJ case, a study by Indianapolis financial firm, Katz, Sapper, & Miller stated that community’s physician compensation was “staggering”. Then in 2024 (reported by the IBJ) Community again made another settlement totaling $145mil. In the latter, former Community CFO, received a significant payment for his role as “whistleblower”. In short, Mr. Sanchez, Chr. of the Trustees says Community is a respected health system; well, some of the public can’t forget the headlines of the past several years.
There is always a “Paul Harvey” to the story. You only regurgitated what the press said.