Update AtlantiCare CEO Tilton announces retirement

AtlantiCare announced its CEO and president, David Tilton, is retiring June 30, and will be succeeded by Executive Vice President Lori Herndon, the CEO and president of AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.(Editor’s note: This report was updated at 4:30 p.m. with comments from David Tilton of AtlantiCare.)

AtlantiCare announced its CEO and president, David Tilton, is retiring June 30, and will be succeeded by Executive Vice President Lori Herndon, the CEO and president of AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.

Tilton has been with AtlantiCare for 29 years, and oversaw the expansion of the health system as well as its recent merger with Geisinger Health System.

In health care today, “competition can come from any place. We are always striving to improve. It can come from Philadelphia, Shore (Medical Center) or other providers outside of the region,” Tilton told NJBIZ.

Keeping up with that competition meant listening to consumers and making sure AtlantiCare expanded beyond its main campuses in Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City.

The system currently includes six major campuses and almost 90 sites, making it a regional health system since its establishment in 1993.

Despite the depressing headlines from Atlantic City coverage, AtlantiCare continues to grow, Tilton told NJBIZ.

The reason was a strategic move away from reliance on the Shore town market, and expanding into counties north, south and west of Atlantic County, he said.

But that doesn’t mean it has abandoned Atlantic City, Tilton said. In fact, quite the opposite.

“As a community-based organization, we are concerned that there are people out of work, and ensure we continue providing access to care,” Tilton said, adding that patients are being seen regardless of their insurance coverage.

“We have a responsibility to them and care deeply about (those patients) and want to continue to do that. Hopefully, things improve over time.”

“Under David’s leadership, AtlantiCare became an early adopter of population health, helping to innovate how we care for our patients. Fortunately, that strategy led AtlantiCare to us. I am grateful for his support and guidance during my first year as Geisinger’s CEO and know he’ll continue to make contributions to our industry,” said David Feinberg, CEO and president of Geisinger, in a prepared statement.

Tilton received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient in 2009, the nation’s highest presidential award for quality, according to a statement from AtlantiCare. This meant Tilton became a mentor, speaking with national and international health care leaders to share best practices and help identify opportunities for improvement related to organizational culture, results, leadership, customer and employee engagement, innovation, process management and social responsibility.

He has also been recognized in the state as a powerful business and health care leader, including earning a spot in the NJBIZ Power 50 Health Care in 2015.

“I have been humbled to lead an organization that is committed to excellence as well as to our patients, to each other, and to the communities we serve. I am equally proud of the culture of caring we have built —  AtlantiCare family members, board, physicians and volunteers are here to make a difference each and every day, one person at a time. I have worked with Lori for many years and have great confidence in her ability to lead AtlantiCare. She is deeply committed to our patients, this community and the AtlantiCare family,” Tilton said.

Herndon has been at AtlantiCare in an executive position since 2007, and has played a role in the expansion of the health system as well as overseeing the major campuses.

She begins her role as CEO and president of the entire health system July 1.