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Anne Arundel Health System's (AAHS) Board of Trustees announced this week that Martin L. “Chip” Doordan will retire from his position as CEO at the end of the month, closing the book on a career that spans nearly four decades with the organization. Effective July 1, 2011 Victoria W. Bayless, the health system's current president, will take the helm as CEO.
“To spend nearly four decades at one organization is an anomaly in the healthcare business,” said George Moran, chair, AAHS Board of Trustees. “However, Chip Doordan is synonymous with Anne Arundel Medical Center. He is a passionate visionary and truly the best at what he does. It is very difficult to see him go, but he is leaving behind a legacy that has AAMC poised for many future successes.”
Doordan joined Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in 1972 as an administrative resident. In 1988, he became AAMC's president and in 1994, the Board of Trustees named him president of Anne Arundel Health System. Since moving from its original location in Downtown Annapolis to its current Medical Park campus, AAMC has more than doubled in size under Doordan's leadership. In addition, the health system built satellite locations in Bowie, Kent Island and Waugh Chapel.
One of Doordan's most recent accomplishments includes the latest expansion of the Medical Park campus with the opening of its new patient care pavilion, a $424 million expansion which has doubled the size of AAMC's existing space by adding new medical facilities, buildings, walkways and parking garages. The new tower includes an expanded emergency room for adults designed to treat some 100,000 patients annually, a new, dedicated pediatric emergency room and pediatric in-patient unit, 50 new private patient rooms, eight new operating rooms and a new 1,600-space garage for more free parking. In addition, the pavilion is on track to be the only acute care facility in Maryland to achieve LEED gold certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), as set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“It's been my great privilege to work with Chip Doordan for the past several years,” said Victoria W. Bayless, president and incoming CEO of AAHS. “Leader, mentor, advocate for patients and a champion for doing the right thing for people, Chip has served this community for nearly 40 years. Our future is ight in large part because of his dedication and many accomplishments.”
Doordan scheduled his departure to coincide with the completion of the strategic plan he set forth, Vision 2010 and the Care Like no Other campaign, which raised $44 million for the health system. His goal was to make AAHS the destination health system in the region. Vision 2010 specified growth in the health system's four key service lines: cardiac and vascular; cancer; joints, ain and spine; and women's services. In addition to growth, the plan called for continued emphasis on leadership and patient-centered care, collaboration with physicians, and an emphasis on quality improvement and patient safety. Under his leadership, the hospital established its Centers of Excellence, including the AAMC Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute; AAMC Heart and Vascular Center; AAMC Joint Center; AAMC Spine Center and AAMC Women's and Children's Center.
“I never had a day where I didn't want to come to work,” said Doordan. “It's astonishing to think that nearly 40 years have flown by since I first joined Anne Arundel General Hospital. Today we're a gleaming, modern expansive health system, touching hundreds of thousands of lives each year. It's been a real privilege to spend my career here. I'm very proud of what we've been able to do. In the end, I am very ‘Anne Arundel Proud!'”
The Board of Trustees recently acknowledged Doordan's many years of accomplishments by bestowing him with the honorary title of CEO Emeritus.
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