Categories: General
      Date: Jan 12, 2009
     Title: Heart of Florida Medical Center Gets New CEO

Finnegan, 51, has more than 25 years' experience in health administration.

Most recently, he was a senior vice president and chief executive officer of HMA Division Seven. That job made him responsible for five hospitals and affiliated clinics in the states of Washington and Pennsylvania.

Before that, he was chief executive officer at Yakima Regional Medical & Cardiac Center in Washington, in addition to being the vice president in charge of HMA's Washington market.

He said Thursday that he's looking forward to focusing on Heart of Florida and leading it in continued growth. "What I want to accomplish is to continue to build relationships with the physician community and the community in general," he said. "My purpose is to make our hospital more valuable to the community."

Before being in Washington, Finnegan was chief executive of Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. That hospital and the one in Yakima grew during his tenure, he said, and he expects growth at Heart of Florida.

The hospital recently finished a $25 million expansion that took it from three floors to five. Heart of Florida now has 200 beds, Marketing Director Linda Vendl said.

The fifth floor has space available for an additional 50 beds.

The fourth floor contains its new joint replacement center.

Finnegan has held administrative positions at three hospitals in Florida under two other hospital systems.

The New Jersey native received his bachelor's degree from Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte, N.C., and a master's degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He and his wife, Beth, have three children and one grandchild.