Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506020085
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Despite his new title of consultant, Miller remains an employee of Columbia and is expected to return at some point to a leadership role with a facility, Columbia executives said Thursday.
In the interim, Miller will be active in Columbia's projects involving the 66 hospitals that make up the Eastern Group, of which Virginia is a part, they said.
Miller came to Lewis-Gale as administrator and president in 1986 when it was owned by Hospital Corporation of America, now part of Columbia, based in Nashville, Tenn. He joined HCA in 1981.
He is expected to remain a resident of the Roanoke Valley, even though Virginia Division headquarters is in Richmond.
The division oversees 18 facilities, and Columbia has plans for more purchases in the state, said Wick Lyne, division president.
Lyne, and Gene Fleming, president of Columbia's Eastern Group, said Miller was tapped for the position for a variety of reasons, including that he was due for a promotion.
From time to time, Columbia "will take a talented individual like Karl and use them to help us," Fleming said. "Karl had been in the Roanoke Valley a long time and done a fine job."
As conditions settle from new acquisitions, Fleming said he expects Miller to return to a facility as a chief executive officer or a marketing executive.
"Karl is one of our strongest players in line operations, and this will strengthen our position at the corporate level," Lyne said.
In addition to Lewis-Gale Hospital and Lewis-Gale Psychiatric Center, Columbia owns Clinch Valley Medical Center, Montgomery Regional Hospital and Pulaski Hospital and is in the process of buying Alleghany Regional Hospital in Low Moor.
Columbia also is purchasing two Richmond hospitals and has signed a management agreement with the National Orthopedic Hospital in Northern Virginia, Lyne said.
The company is growing similarly in other states, Lyne said.
Columbia has more than 300 hospitals divided into five groups, each with several divisions. The Eastern Group includes 66 hospitals in eight states.
Miller, who declined to comment on his upcoming position, will stay in the Lewis-Gale job until his replacement is named. Candidates currently are being interviewed, and Lyne said he could have a designee within 30 days, although the person might not be in the job that soon.
Lyne said he expects to submit four internal candidates and two external ones to the hospital board's search committee for screening.
by CNB