David "Torch" Torchiana, MD, will step up to CEO of Boston-based Partners HealthCare next month, facing the challenge of tempering the image of Massachusetts' largest health system and developing a new expansion strategy, according to The Boston Globe.
The 60-year-old heart surgeon, known for his down-to-earth demeanor, takes the reigns just after Partners' latest attempt to acquire three community hospitals met strong opposition, according to the report. The system recently abandoned a three-year attempt to acquire Weymoth, Mass.-based South Shore Hospital, and its plans to acquire Melrose, Mass.-based Hallmark Health System are on hold.
"If we're perceived as a bully or we're perceived as arrogant through our actions, I don't want that," Dr. Torchiana told The Boston Globe. "We know we have to soften our external relations, and get ourselves out of this place of being a miscreant in Massachusetts."
When he steps into the position, Dr. Torchiana plans to look to out-of-state and overseas markets as regions for expansion, according to the report.
Dr. Torchiana will receive a salary of about $2 million in his new role. He comes to this position after serving as chairman and CEO of Massachusetts General Physicians Organization since 2003, where he oversees an organization of 2,000 physicians, according to the report.
Dr. Torchiana attended Harvard Medical School and completed residencies in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital. He was put on staff of the department of surgery in 1989 and became chief of cardiac surgery in 1998. He is also an associate professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School.
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