John Popovich, MD, president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital and executive vice president, chief medical officer, Henry Ford Health System, has announced his plans to retire from the organization in 2018 at the end of the second quarter.
The health system gave no indication in Wednesday's release about finding a replacement for Popovich, who first started at Henry Ford Hospital in 1975 as an intern out of medical school. Thirty-five years later, Popovich became the hospital's president and CEO.
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Immediately following his fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in 1980, Popovich became a senior staff physician for Henry Ford Medical Group and director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit, where he was instrumental in the growth of intensive and critical care, the health system said. Popovich developed the critical care training program and led the expansion of critical care medicine at Henry Ford Hospital, and was later appointed division head, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, a position he held for almost 10 years.
In 1999, Popovich became chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. In 2008, he was named senior vice president for Clinical Affairs for Henry Ford Health System. He assumed the role of Henry Ford Hospital president and CEO in 2010 and was named executive vice president, chief medical officer, for the health system two years later.
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"Dr. Popovich is known for his love of the people at Henry Ford Hospital and his affection for the city of Detroit," said Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System. "His legacy includes building, leading and nurturing a team that is well-positioned to continue the hospital's reputation as an academic medical center highly regarded for its research, education and clinical excellence."
Bob Riney, president of Health Care Operations and chief operating officer for Henry Ford Health System said Popovich would continue to lead many key strategies for Henry Ford Hospital until his retirement.
Popovich has authored more than 150 journal articles, scientific abstracts and book chapters. His chief research interest was the diagnoses of pulmonary thromboembolism and interstitial lung diseases. He also created the blog Doc In The D.
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