Randolph Health CEO delays departure

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Apr. 15—RANDOLPH COUNTY — The top executive at Randolph Health will stay on temporarily as a merger with the health system is finalized.

CEO Angela Orth's last day was supposed to be Thursday, with her departure having been announced in early March. But the health system announced Wednesday that Orth will remain on the job through June 4 while the final stages are completed for Randolph Health's merger with California-based American Health Care Systems.

The impending new owner of Randolph Health has selected longtime health care administrator Tim Ford of Blowing Rock to become the next health system CEO.

Randolph Health leaders say they aim to close the transaction with American Healthcare Systems this spring. Orth and Randolph Health management have been candid in saying for the past several years that the financially strapped health system needs a merger for its long-term sustainability.

One key step in the merger centers on approval of a $20 million loan through the state Rural Health Care Stabilization Act. The N.C. General Assembly created the hospital loan fund to help preserve smaller medical centers in rural parts of the state.

The $20 million for the Randolph Health merger would essentially serve as a bridge loan helping financially with transition to the new ownership.

The N.C. Local Government Commission, which has to approve the loan, didn't take up the matter at its latest meeting on Tuesday. The commission is part of the N.C. Department of State Treasurer in Raleigh.

No date has been set for the Randolph Health matter to come before the commission, a spokesman for the treasurer's office told The High Point Enterprise.

Randolph Health officials await the Local Government Commission's consideration of the loan application.

"We will work with Randolph County to understand next steps in order to get the application reviewed," Orth said.

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners applied for the loan on behalf of Randolph Health.

In October, American Healthcare Systems agreed to purchase Randolph Health, which includes Randolph Hospital in Asheboro, in a deal signed off on by the bankruptcy court. Randolph Health filed for a reorganizational bankruptcy in March 2020.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul