The president of the University of Maryland Medical System is preparing to step down after five years at the helm of the private, nonprofit hospital system.
“Mr. [Edmond]Notebaert is age 64 and has begun discussions with the UMMS Board of Directors about transitioning from his role as President and Chief Executive Officer and creating a succession plan,” UMMS spokeswoman Joan Shnipper told The Examiner in an e-mail. “Mr. Notebaert has been here five years. During that time he has accomplished his goals of growing and strengthening the University of Maryland Medical System. He is now approaching retirement age and looking ahead to the future.”
No timetable has been set for the transition, and no further information was available about his plans.
Dr. Ronald Sroka, president-elect of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, declined to comment on Notebaert?s tenure. “I don?t know what?s going on internally there.”
The University of Maryland Medical System was created in 1984 when the state-owned University Hospital became a private, non-profit entity. Since then the system has expanded.
Notebaert?spredecessor, Dr. Morton Rapoport, led the development and successful transformation of the University of Maryland Hospital into a world-class, six-hospital system across 20 years, according to the system?s Web site.
Member hospitals include the University of Maryland Medical Center, Kernan Hospital, University Specialty Hospital, Maryland General Hospital, Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital and Shore Health System ? acquired under Notebaert?s tenure.
Notebaert also presided over the acquisition of Shore Health System, serving Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Kent and Queen Anne?s counties on the Eastern Shore in 2006. This year the Chester River Health System, including nine acute care, specialty and rehabilitation hospitals join UMMS July 1. He also helped bring an emergency care facility to Queen Anne County.
Notebaert earns as much as $2.3 million total annual compensation.
UMMS, a $3.5 billion economic engine for the state, has been embroiled in a federal lawsuit filed by Arnold Jolivet, president of the American Minority Contractors and Businesses Association. The suit alleges that UMMS discriminates against minorities in the awarding of contracts, including projects largely funded by the state.
