WINSTON-SALEM — Paul Wiles, president and CEO of Rowan Regional Medical Center parent company Novant Health, will retire at the end of the year, the company announced Monday.
Carl S. Armato, currently the organization’s senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, will succeed Wiles on Jan. 1.
Wiles, 64, and the Novant board of trustees began planning a year ago for his retirement, which comes after 41 years working for the health system and the hospitals and organizations that preceded the formation of Novant Health in 1997.
Armato has served in leadership positions with Novant for 13 years and in his current job for nine months.
Wiles joined the organization in 1970 while he was still in graduate school. In 1985, Wiles was named president and chief executive officer of Carolina Medicorp and Forsyth Medical Center. He became president and CEO of Novant Health in 1997 when those organizations merged with Presbyterian Healthcare in Charlotte to form a new not-for-profit health system.
When he began his career, the organization consisted of one hospital with annual revenues of $20 million. Today, the health system’s annual revenues total $3.5 billion. Under Wiles’ leadership, Novant Health has grown into a four-state health system with 25,000 employees, 13 hospitals and one of the largest medical groups in the nation with 360 clinic sites.
“While that growth is important, it’s not the primary source of pride for Paul and his staff,” Dr. Lisa S. Evans, chairwoman of the Novant board of trustees, said in a press release.
“Novant has become a national leader in improving the quality and safety of patient care. And the organization lives its not-for-profit mission of serving communities and reaching out to vulnerable people who need assistance,” Evans said. “For Paul and his team, fulfilling this mission is, and has been, the most important goal.”
Evans said the board is “very excited about Carl’s appointment as the system’s next president and chief executive officer.”
Armato, 46, joined Novant in 1998 as the vice president of finance and operations for the health system’s physician clinic division, now known as the Novant Medical Group. He then served as senior vice president of materials management and logistics. In 2003, Armato was appointed chief operating officer of Presbyterian Healthcare. One year later, he was promoted to president and chief executive officer of Presbyterian. In 2008, he assumed a system-wide role as an executive vice president and was named Novant Health’s chief operating officer in February.
Prior to joining Novant Health, Armato was a vice president with General Health System in Baton Rouge, La. He is also a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.