Steve Nierman, who has served as president of South Florida Baptist Hospital for the last six years, is leaving Plant City to become the president at Winter Haven Hospital.
Nierman’s first day at Winter Haven will be Aug. 30.
The transfer comes after Winter Haven Hospital and Tampa Bay area-based BayCare Health System completed a planned consolidation.
“He’s done a great job,” BayCare COO and CFO Tommy Inzina said. “If he hadn’t done such a great job, he wouldn’t have had this opportunity. It’s a great indication of his work.”
BayCare submitted two candidates for the Winter Haven Hospital Board to review. Nierman was one of the two final candidates for the position.
“Overwhelmingly, he was the superior candidate,” Lance Anastasio, president of Winter Haven Hospital, said.
Anastasio announced his retirement last year but committed to the board to remain until a consolidation was finalized.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges,” Nierman said of his new post. “Professionally, I’ll help my organization consolidate with another. There are also more health care service lines at Winter Haven.
“It’s also exciting to join an organization with such quality,” Nierman said. “I hope to be able to continue that and further it.”
As president of South Florida Baptist Hospital, Nierman led numerous expansion and renovation efforts. He brought many services that previously were only available in bigger cities. Nierman led the construction of the Evelyn & Batista Madonia Sr. Heart and Vascular Center and the development of an interventional cardiology and peripheral endovascular program. He developed the Orthopedic Joint Replacement and Neuro-Spine Surgery program and successfully recruited the necessary surgeons. He also started a minimally invasive, robotic surgery program with colorectal, urologic and gynecologic surgeons.
“(I’ve enjoyed) the people I worked with and the doctors,” Nierman said. “From the day I came six years ago, I knew it was a hospital with fantastic community support.”
Nierman will move with his wife, Angie, and son, Blake, to Winter Haven. He will continue to serve at South Florida Baptist until a replacement is found. He will have to commute 30 minutes between the hospitals.
Nierman was born in Grand Junction, Colo., but grew up primarily in Indiana. He attended college at the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering math/science. He also holds a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle University, in Daytona Beach, and a master’s of business administration from Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Nierman has worked in other large health care systems. He served as COO at Memorial Hospital of Tampa and Spring Hill Regional Hospital. Prior to that, he worked with a national health insurance company, after serving in the active duty military for several years.
BayCare is conducting a national search for Nierman’s successor. There is no date set as to when a possible candidate may be selected.
“We’d rather have the right candidate than have one fast,” Inzina said.
Nierman, who recently was elected president of the Plant City Lions Club, said he will miss the community here.
“It’s not the building, not the new services, it’s the relationship I have with the doctors and community that I will miss,” Nierman said.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
ABOUT THE CONSOLIDATION
Winter Haven Hospital and BayCare Health System consolidation goes into effect Aug. 30.
Both organizations believe their shared vision and common culture will be an asset in the preparations necessary for a changing health care environment, in which providers will increasingly coordinate care across broad geographical areas and diverse services.
Winter Haven’s Board of Trustees studied several potential partners before selecting BayCare for formal discussions.
“We think BayCare’s backing and support will allow us to take our tradition of clinical excellence to the next level,” Winter Haven Hospital President Lance Anastasio said. “Part of that is a broader focus on community health— not just caring for patients who come through our doors.”
Anastasio cited the need for more primary care in Polk County and pointed to BayCare’s ability to recruit physicians and work with them in different ways to improve care.
The founding hospitals of BayCare came together in 1997.
“Scale is important and will become more so in the future,” BayCare President and CEO Steve Mason said. “But, it’s not our only goal. When hospitals and physicians share their experience to develop best-practices, they improve both the quality and access to care.”