UPDATE JANUARY 10, 2022:
Avera Health has appointed Richard (Dick) Molseed to serve as the Interim CEO of Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre and Regional President and CEO of Avera St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen.
Last week (Jan. 4, 2022), previous CEO Todd Forkel announced he is leaving his positions in Pierre and Aberdeen to become the head of the Grand Forks, North Dakota-based Altru Health System. Forkel will be with Avera until Feb. 20, 2022. Molseed will take over duties Feb. 21, 2022.
Molseed retired from Avera in June of 2020 after 28 years. Following his retirement, he returned to serve as Avera’s Interim Chief Information Officer.
Avera Health President and CEO Bob Sutton says having spent over 28 years with Avera, Molseed is well suited to lead the Pierre and Aberdeen Avera facilities through this leadership transition. He says Molseed was instrumental in the transition of Avera St. Mary’s into Avera, served as board representative to Avera St. Luke’s and as a member of the Avera St. Mary’s Board of Directors.
Throughout his tenure, Molseed served as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Governance from 2011 until his retirement. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center and in other management roles.
Photo credit Avera Health.
JANUARY 4, 2022:
The CEO of Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre is leaving his position to become the head of a Grand Forks, North Dakota-based healthcare system.
Todd Forkel, who is also the Regional President and CEO of Avera St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen, will leave Avera to become the CEO of Altru Health System.
As the top leader of Avera regions based in both Aberdeen and Pierre, Forkel helped set the course for shared leadership functions across multiple regions, and he’s helped to make this a development opportunity for other leaders as well.
President and Chief Medical Officer at Avera St. Mary’s Dr. Mikel Holland says during Forkel’s tenure, Avera St. Mary’s has expanded and grown services to meet the needs of the communities they serve in central South Dakota.
Avera Health President and CEO Bob Sutton says Forkel has been a positive leadership force in the organization and became a personal friend and mentor to many people at Avera.
A champion for high quality health care, Forkel led during a time when both Avera St. Luke’s and Avera St. Mary’s have earned 5-Star ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and were named as Top 100 and Top 20 Rural and Community Hospitals nationwide.
After serving in the US Air Force, Forkel joined Avera 23 years ago as a radiology technician at the same hospital where he was born – Avera St. Luke’s. He progressed to Director of Radiology and went on to develop his leadership skills in other positions. In 2008, he returned to Avera as Vice President of Clinics in the Aberdeen region. In 2011, he was named Regional President and CEO of Avera St. Luke’s and in 2015, he began serving as CEO for Avera St. Mary’s as well.
Forkel will be with Avera until Feb. 20, 2022. Avera will announce an interim leadership plan in the near future.
Photo credit Avera Health.
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