Tom Thompson to Step Away as Porter Medical Center President and COO
Bob Ortmyer to Serve as Interim in Addition to Current Role at Elizabethtown Community Hospital
Middlebury, VT – The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center announced today that Tom Thompson will step away from his role as President and Chief Operating Officer as of September 18, in order to focus his time and energy on a pressing family health matter.
“We have had opportunities to face many challenges and achieve great success together at Porter,” Thompson said in a message to staff. “I leave feeling like my work with you all remains unfinished but know you will continue to serve and care for our patients and residents with the professional, compassionate care you have always shown our community.”
Effective September 18, Bob Ortmyer will begin serving the UVM Health Network in a dual role as Porter’s Interim President and Chief Operating Officer, in addition to his current role as President and at The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital.
Ortmyer will divide his time between Elizabethtown and Ticonderoga, NY, and Middlebury, VT. Ortmyer emphasized his continued commitment to Elizabethtown Community Hospital and to the Ticonderoga campus, where the former Moses Ludington Hospital is now a state-of-the-art 24-hour emergency department and outpatient center owned and operated by Elizabethtown Community Hospital.
“As critical access hospitals serving the Network’s southernmost service areas, we share many of the same opportunities and challenges,” Ortmyer said. “We are already benefiting from shared key roles as well as services and providers, and I am proud to work with the team at Porter during this critical time.”
“I am grateful for Tom’s service to Porter, and to the patients and community we serve there,” said Sunny Eappen, MD, MBA, UVM Health Network President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts and wish them the best during this difficult time. While these transitions are not easy, the two critical access hospitals share many similarities. As health care partners, we support each other in our shared commitment to providing high-quality, equitable care to everyone we serve. I am confident that Porter will benefit from Bob’s leadership at this time, along with Elizabethtown Community Hospital.”