Don Avery, president and CEO of Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Ga., died unexpectedly, the hospital said in a Jan. 24 Facebook post.
Mr. Avery joined Fairview Park in 2008. "For 17 years, Don led our hospital with passion and a personality that was bigger than life," the hospital's post said. "The Fairview Park Hospital team was his family. Dublin was his home."
In an interview with WMAZ, Mr. Avery shared that he was an Air Force pilot before pursuing healthcare administration, a path inspired by his experience as a cancer patient receiving treatment following a Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis at age 23. In total, Mr. Avery has spent nearly four decades in healthcare.
In December, Mr. Avery shared that he would be retiring, effective July 3.
"I have decided to step down from the most amazing job anyone could ever hope to have, being the leader of a group of people that have become my family. My Fairview family," he wrote at the time of his announcement. "Those who work here today, as well as those who worked here over the past 17 years, will always be a part of my heart, my life and, yes, my family."
The 190-bed hospital is part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare.