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Around the Region… Around the Region… Around the Region…

Broward Health Coral Springs Broward Health
Welcomes Melissa Leamon Welcomes Two

as Chief Nursing Officer Chief Financial

Melissa Leamon has been named chief nursing officer of Officers
Broward Health Coral Springs. An executive-level nurse with
strong clinical knowledge, Leamon first joined Broward Broward Health Medical Center
Health Coral Springs in 2019 as regional director of nursing. has welcomed Laura Thomas,
Leamon brings more than 16 years of progressive experi- MHA, as its new Chief Financial
ence to her role. Prior to joining Broward Health, she served Melissa Leamon Officer. Thomas has more than 15 Laura Thomas Joshua Szostek
as administrative director of clinical operation and critical years of financial leadership expe-
care services at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Leamon holds a rience.
Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida Broward Health North has named Joshua Szostek its Chief Financial Officer.
Atlantic University. She is a member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Thomas most recently served as the senior vice president of finance for John Peter
and the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses. Smith Health Network in Fort Worth, TX, and Market CFO for Bon Secours Mercy
Health – East Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH. Thomas earned her bachelor’s degree in
business administration with a specialization in accountancy and information systems
St. Mary’s Medical Center & Palm Beach Children’s from the University of Texas in Odessa, TX. She also holds a master’s degree in health
administration from Ohio University in Athens, OH. She is currently studying to com-
Hospital Appoints New Chief Nursing Officer plete her Certified Public Account (CPA) certification. She is a professional member of
the Health Financial Management Association.
St. Mary’s Medical Center & the Palm Beach Children’s Szostek has held senior-level financial positions at a variety of hospitals in the HCA
Hospital appoints Ruth Schwarzkopf as its new Chief network, including Chief Financial Officer of HCA Houston Healthcare in Houston, TX,
Nursing Officer (CNO). Schwarzkopf has worked for Tenet Assistant Chief Financial Officer of HCA Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s
for the past 17 years, coming to St. Mary’s after serving as Hospital in San Antonio, TX, and CFO of HCA Specialty Hospital of Jacksonville in
Chief Nursing Officer at sister hospital West Boca Medical Jacksonville, FL. Szostek also held financial positions at Emory Healthcare in Johns
Center. Schwarzkopf continues to serve on both the Creek, GA, and HCA Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, GA. Szostek holds a
Executive Committee and the Board of the Palm Health Master of Business Administration with a focus on finance from Keller University and is
Foundation and volunteer's with the American Heart an adjunct professor at Davenport University’s School of Business, where he teaches a
Association and March of Dimes. Schwarzkopf earned her course on financial management for health care.
nursing degree at Ohio Valley Hospital, School of Nursing,
and bachelor’s degree in professional studies at Barry
University. She continued her education at St. Thomas E-mail Your Appointments to
University, earning her master’s degree in health manage- Ruth Schwarzkopf
ment. Schwarzkopf is on the advisory council for two local colleges, Florida Atlantic editorial@southfloridahospitalnews.com
University and Palm Beach State College.

Aventura Hospital and Medical
Center Appoints New Chief

Operating Officer

Aventura Hospital and Medical Center has named David
Was, MBA, to the Chief Operating Officer (COO). David has
been employed by HCA Healthcare for more than fifteen
years, starting in HCA Healthcare’s Corporate Office in
Nashville, TN, in 2005 and then joining HCA Healthcare’s
Executive Development Program in 2010. He served as David Was
Associate Chief Operating Officer at Grand Strand Regional
Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, SC, from 2010-2012 and then as Associate Chief
Operating Officer at Parkridge Health System in Chattanooga, TN, from 2012-2015. He
was promoted into the role of Chief Operating Officer at Central Florida Regional
Hospital in Sanford, FL, in 2015. David is a native of Nashville, TN, where he received
his undergraduate degree in Spanish from Vanderbilt University and his Masters in
Business Administration from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of
Management.

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com October 2020 9