MICHIGAN
Sparrow Health System President and CEO Joe Damore is leaving Lansing to take a job as president of Mission Health and Mission Hospitals in Asheville, N.C.
The move comes after Damore was recruited by Mission Health, which ranks among the top 100 hospitals in the nation, he said.
"It's considered a really excellent organization - a really high-quality medical community - in a beautiful location in the Blue Ridge Mountains," Damore said, adding that he has family in the Carolinas.
The decision was difficult to make, he said, adding that his family has lived in Lansing for 19 years and the city holds a special place in his heart.
After becoming president of Sparrow in October 1990, Damore led the health system through a series of advancements, notably the creation of a Level I Trauma Center, the only of its kind in mid-Michigan.
Established in 1996, the trauma center treats seriously ill or injured people.