HCA Florida Memorial Hospital President and CEO Bradley Talbert is leaving Jacksonville to become the CEO of Memorial Health – Savannah.
HCA Healthcare announced the move in an email Feb. 13.
The 612-bed Savannah hospital and 454-bed Jacksonville facility are both part of HCA.
HCA Healthcare said Talbert will start in early March and will help in the effort to find a new CEO for Memorial.
Talbert also is the 2023 JAX Chamber chair and serves as treasurer on the JaxPort board of directors.
Mayor Lenny Curry appointed him to the JaxPort board.
Talbert is a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council and the University of North Florida Dean’s Council.
Talbert moved to Jacksonville in 2017 when he was named CEO of HCA Florida Memorial Hospital.
Before that, Talbert was CEO of Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The announcement was circulated Feb. 13 in an email form Hugh C. Tappan, president of the South Atlantic Division based in Charleston, South Carolina.
It said that under Talbert’s leadership, the hospital achieved its highest physician engagement in more than a decade, earned five consecutive Leapfrog A quality ratings and became the first hospital in Northeast Florida to achieve Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement Certification by the Joint Commission.
It also earned Level II Trauma accreditation and completed more than $100 million in capital expansions and investments.
Before joining HCA, Talbert worked with Tenet Health for 10 years in progressively responsible roles including CEO for two hospitals in South Carolina, the system said.
Talbert earned a bachelor’s degree in finance at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and a master’s in health administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.
The announcement said he will relocate to the Savannah market with his wife and two children.
Memorial Health joined HCA Healthcare in 2018.
JAX Chamber Chief Public Affairs Officer Matt Galnor said Feb. 14 that the chamber's bylaws say if the chair cannot serve the full term, the chair-elect will serve the rest of the term and then his or her full term.
The chair-elect is Bank of America Jacksonville President Mark Bennett.
Galnor said the chamber does not have a timeline for the transition.