Press Release:

Cartersville, GA; October 18, 2017 –  After a 40 year career in healthcare, with 34 years dedicated to Cartersville Medical Center, Keith Sandlin, President and CEO at Cartersville Medical Center, has decided to retire in January.

 

“I have great pride in being a part of the growth and success of Cartersville Medical Center for the past 34 years and feel tremendous ownership. We have experienced many successes as an organization and it has been a privilege to be a part of it,” said Sandlin.  “I am very excited about the future of Cartersville Medical Center. There are excellent leaders, fantastic staff and wonderful doctors here, and our medical community is poised for tremendous growth. With another significant facility expansion and major growth plans in the works, the future is very bright.”

 

In 1983, Sandlin assumed the role of CEO at the former Sam Howell Hospital in Cartersville, Georgia and so began a tenure unmatched by any other CEO in HCA (parent company of CMC).

 

In 1985, Sandlin coordinated the construction and opening of the new 80-bed Cartersville Medical Center.  During his tenure, Sandlin led multiple facility expansions on the CMC campus including:  Emergency Room (three expansions), Operating Room, Mother/Baby unit, ICU/CCU, Oncology (The Hope Center), and ancillary expansions in the Laboratory, Imaging, and Pharmacy.  Additionally, under Sandlin’s leadership, the hospital’s licensed bed count increased to the current 119 beds and four new medical office buildings were developed on the hospital campus. Sandlin was also responsible for recruiting over 100 physicians in multiple specialties and sub specialties to the community and as a result was able to develop new service line programs in Oncology, Cardiology, Neurosciences, Pulmonology, Vascular Services, and Interventional Radiology.

 

“It is rare to see a CEO open a hospital, recruit a medical staff and team, and see the hospital through multiple expansions and service line developments.  Keith has set the example for living our mission and Dr. Thomas Frist’s philosophy of “good people beget good people.  We wish Keith and his wife Carol the very best,” said Heather J. Rohan, Division President, TriStar Health (a division of HCA).

 

Benny McDonald, chief financial officer and long-time friend and co-worker states, “Keith has been Cartersville Medical Center’s first and only CEO.  The day the hospital opened Keith already had a new expansion project in the plans.  He recognized a great need in the community for local cancer care and worked ten years — filing multiple CON applications — to obtain approval to build The Hope Center, a thriving regional cancer center.”

 

Sandlin has been a member of the Georgia Hospital Association board for the past 10 years and served as chairman in 2007.  In 2012, he was named a GHA “Hospital Hero”, a prestigious award recognizing outstanding service to the healthcare field in the state of Georgia.  Additionally, Sandlin served on the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board for Six Southeastern States and was an AHA delegate.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has actively served his community on several local boards, including:  Synovus Bank, Cartersville Rotary Club, Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce, North Metro Technical College and Etowah Foundation.

 

Sandlin and Carol, his wife of 41 years, have lived in Cartersville for 34 years.  They attend Sam Jones United Methodist Church.  Upon retirement, he looks forward to spending more time with Carol, as well as his three adult daughters and their families, including six grandchildren.