Northeast Georgia Health System's President & CEO, Carol Burrell, announced this week that she will retire within the next year.
Burrell has served as CEO of the health system since 2011.
“I met with our board of trustees this week and informed them of my plans to retire within the next year or so, though I’m committed to serving until a successor is identified and there’s a clean handoff,” Burrell said in a statement. “It will be business as usual for me and our team while the board starts its succession planning process.”
Spence Price, chair of the NGHS Board, described Burrell as a "visionary leader," even when it comes to her retirement announcement.
"It’s only fitting that she’s giving us plenty of time to plan ahead and identify her successor before she retires,” Price said.
A CEO search committee will soon be established to choose a national executive recruitment firm. That committee will then lead the process of evaluating candidates and choosing Burrell's successor.
“Carol is one of the most respected CEOs in the state, regardless of industry, and the communities NGHS serves have been blessed to have her at the helm,” Price said. “While she can never be truly replaced, we are going to move prudently to find the right leader to continue pursuing the level of excellence Carol has achieved.”
Burrell was born in Barrow County and started her career as a medical technologist in the late 1970s. She later received her master's degree in healthcare administration from Central Michigan University. After serving as a vice president at St. Vincent's Health System in Jacksonville, FL, Burrell returned to Georgia in 1999 to lead NGHS' network of primary care clinics. She was named chief operating officer in 2004 and CEO in 2011.
Under Burrell's leadership, NGHS has grown from one hospital in Hall County to five hospitals across the northeast Georgia region. Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville is also one of the state's only Level 1 Trauma Centers. The system also includes the sixth-largest multispecialty physician group in the state with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group. The health system also includes the Georgia Heart Institute as well as one of Georgia's largest graduate medical education programs, according to a release.
"NGHS’ estimated annual impact on the state and local economy has grown from around $1 billion in 2011 to more than $4 billion in 2021," the release said.
“It is an honor to serve NGHS and the communities across our region, alongside a team of healthcare workers who bring their best every day, and I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet,” Burrell said. “The year ahead will be extremely busy as we continue growing the greater good by opening our future NGMC Lumpkin hospital campus along Georgia 400 and multispecialty medical plazas in Dawsonville and Bethlehem this spring – as well as breaking ground on a dedicated rehabilitation hospital and a medical office park in Gainesville, finalizing construction on the first phase of our hospital campus expansion in Braselton and preparing to open a new patient tower on our hospital campus in Gainesville.”
“Carol’s mantra is ‘be better tomorrow than you are today,’ and she’s certainly positioned NGHS and our next CEO well for the future,” Price said.
