The Memorial Healthcare System board unanimously voted to terminate its contract with CEO Scott Wester, effective on Wednesday.
The board hired Wester as chief executive in July 2022 under a three-year contract to run the healthcare system, which has more than 17,000 employees and includes six South Broward hospitals and a new free-standing cancer center. On Wednesday evening, the board ended its contract with Wester a year early.
“When we hired him, we felt like he was going to help us with strategy and the future of Memorial,” board chairwoman Elizabeth Justen said. “Unfortunately, after two years, he presented a strategic plan that was not good, so we expressed to him it was not what we were hoping for. We gave him a review and were disappointed in him, and he knew it.”
Memorial Healthcare System is taxpayer-funded and includes Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Memorial Regional Hospital South in Hollywood, Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Memorial Hospital Miramar, Memorial Hospital Pembroke, and numerous ancillary facilities, including a nursing home and urgent care centers.