photo by: Contributed

LMH Health's main campus at 325 Maine St.

LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson will retire in August, the hospital announced on Tuesday.

The pending change means the hospital will be looking for new leadership for the first time in nearly a decade, as the regional healthcare market becomes more competitive and as LMH works to remain an independent, community-owned hospital.

“The (LMH) board asked me what are my thoughts, as I step away, for it to consider,” Johnson said Tuesday in an interview with the Journal-World. “At the top of my list is that we can and should remain an independent community hospital.”

Johnson said remaining an independent hospital — LMH Health is run independently of Lawrence City Hall by a city-appointed board of trustees — is critical because it “allows you to determine for yourself what your community needs.”

“If we lose independence, we don’t have a new cancer center,” Johnson said, pointing to construction work underway at the hospital that will add additional cancer treatment capabilities this summer. “That wouldn’t happen.”

photo by: Submitted

Russ Johnson

Johnson’s departure from LMH, though, doesn’t come as the result of any shifting winds in the healthcare market. Rather, Johnson, 66, said it simply is time to spend more time with his family and focus on other life goals.

“I really love what I do, and in some ways, I feel like I’m at the top of my game,” Johnson said. “But you get older and become mindful of the other things in your life that you want. Being with my family and my kids is a real strong pull for (wife)Isabel and I.”

LMH’s Board of Trustees will conduct a national search for Johnson’s replacement, the hospital announced.

“We are grateful for Russ’ visionary leadership and commitment to the mission of LMH Health,” said LMH Health Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Shari Matejka Quick. “Being a hospital CEO is a demanding job requiring a highly honed set of skills and the ability to navigate a range of issues every day that are unlike any other industry. Russ led LMH through unprecedented challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful for his service, and we will confidently support him until the end of his tenure.”

Johnson’s last day at LMH is scheduled to be Aug. 28, he said. Johnson will have been with LMH Health for just more than nine years at the time of his retirement.

Johnson, who grew up in Merriam, has been in the health care industry since 1984, when he began working for a network of hospitals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He came to Lawrence after having served as the CEO for San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colorado, for 13 years.

During his LMH tenure, he oversaw the construction of the LMH Health West Campus near Sixth Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway, and will oversee the opening of a new cancer center at LMH’s Sixth and Maine hospital campus in June, among other initiatives.

Johnson said he and his wife, Isabel, are still developing plans for their future, including whether they relocate closer to their children on the east coast. But Johnson said he expects to remain passionate about the advancement of healthcare, and said will continue to be greatly appreciative of the many people who have made a career of it.

“I have a lot of gratitude to the 1,900 people who work here, who everyday take care of patients,” Johnson said of LMH’s workforce. “You know, I don’t know how to take a blood pressure. I couldn’t even take your blood pressure. I’m deeply grateful to the clinicians and nurses and physicians who work here.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.