Memorial Healthcare chooses new CEO

The board of Memorial Healthcare System, which operates five adult hospitals and a children’s hospital in south Broward, has chosen a top candidate to become its new leader.

The board voted Friday night to extend an offer to Scott Wester to take the helm of Memorial Healthcare System, a publicly funded health system also known as the South Broward Hospital District.

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Wester would bring a financial and management background to Memorial, a $2 billion health system. He currently is CEO of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La., part of a $1.2 billion healthcare system, with 880 licensed beds.

Wester, one of four finalists, was described by his references as a leader and dealmaker who works well with the physician community and is willing to take calculated risks to grow revenue.

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Memorial, which was one of the busiest hospitals in Florida during the COVID-19 waves, has plans to continue to expand. A new cancer center is under construction in Pembroke Pines and the hospital is working in partnership with Broward Health for a new hospital in Sunrise.

“The health system is at an inflection point and Wester is someone who looks at himself as a servant of workforce and community,” said board member Laura Raybin Miller. “He is the best individual for the job.”

The new CEO will oversee the system with 14,000 employees, replacing Aurelio Fernandez who has held the position for the past six years. Fernandez’s retirement is part of a larger trend occurring in 2022 in which hospital CEOs are leaving their positions after leaders delayed retirement plans due to the pandemic.

Board chairman Doug Harrison said he felt confident Wester would continue to collaborate with the publicly funded North Broward Hospital District, an effort that the two health systems have recently made a priority.

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com or Twitter @cindykgoodman.