DMC names interim CEO to permanent post

Detroit — Brittany Lavis has been appointed group chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center, the hospital system announced Monday, after acting as interim CEO since October. 

Lavis will also direct the Detroit market for Tenet Healthcare, DMC's for-profit owner, in an appointment that received the formal endorsement of DMC's governing board, according to the release. 

“I am enthusiastic about having the opportunity to lead the DMC,” Lavis said. “... We have demonstrated a strong and enduring commitment to ensuring everyone has access to the care they need. As we go forward, we will be committed to maintaining and strengthening that commitment.”

Lavis succeeds former CEO Audrey Gregory, who announced her resignation in September to lead a health system in Florida. 

Lavis previously served as group chief financial officer for Tenet Healthcare, where she has worked for more than 10 years, and was the youngest person to fill that position, according to a 2018 interview with Modern Healthcare. 

She joined the DMC in 2018, having previously worked as hospital CFO at Tenet Healthcare’s Placentia-Linda Hospital and the group CFO for all seven hospitals in Tenet’s Southern California Group.

Tenet Healthcare's CEO Saum Sutaria said Lavis had demonstrated significant leadership during her time with the group. 

“She has shown her sincere passion for serving the people of Detroit and all of southeast Michigan, and we have every confidence she will help carry the spirit of the DMC forward with resolve to accomplish much more,” Sutaria said. 

Lavis earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Wake Forest University School of Business in Winston-Salem, N.C., and a bachelor’s degree from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

halbarghouthi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @HaniBarghouthi