Mr. Dover brings more than three decades of healthcare experience to the role, according to a Sept. 20 news release. He will be the health system’s third president and CEO.
“For the Avera System Members and the Avera board, it was paramount that we find a leader who is committed to Avera’s 125-year legacy of rural healthcare and our Gospel-based mission to improve the lives of those we serve,” Sister Mary Kay Panowicz, who chaired the CEO search committee, said in the release. “In Jim Dover, we see an engaging and compassionate leader who will lead Avera into its next era of serving the community’s health, our dedicated employees and our outstanding medical community.”
Mr. Dover comes to Avera after the health system announced in April that Bob Sutton would step down as president and CEO for health reasons. Julie Lautt, CFO of Avera, has been serving as interim president and CEO.
Most recently, Mr. Dover served as president and CEO of Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Health.
Avera is a 37-hospital health system with more than 20,000 employees and locations in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
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