The CEO of Berkeley, Calif.-based Sutter Health Alta Bates Summit Medical Center reportedly announced his resignation from the institution last month amid backlash regarding the hospital's planned closure, according to The Daily Californian.
Officials have begun searching for CEO Chuck Prosper's replacement. Mr. Prosper was named CEO of the hospital in 2012. His last day will be May 4, a spokesperson for Sutter Health told the publication in a statement.
Sutter Health decided to close the hospital in October 2015 due to the facility's inability to meet state seismic standards. Officials planned to relocate the hospital's services to its Alta Bates Summit Medical Center campus in Oakland, Calif., which they plan to expand.
A Sutter Health Bay Area spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review in an emailed statement March 14, "Chuck Prosper let all employees know several weeks ago that he has decided to leave Alta Bates Summit. His last day is May 4. Sutter Health is conducting a search for his replacement. Chuck's decision to leave is not related to the hospital's seismic issues or Sutter Health's plans to rebuild in Oakland."
More than 350 community members, along with the California Nurses Association, held a rally last month to protest the hospital's planned closure. A similar demonstration also occurred in November 2017.
"No matter who is in charge, we want to make sure that Sutter does the right thing of keeping a full-service hospital in Berkeley," the CNA spokesperson told The Daily Californian. "Hopefully they will appoint someone who is committed to that same mission, and even if they don't, that won't stop us."
Editor's note: This article was updated March 14 at 3:30 p.m. to include additional information from Sutter Health.