Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus Regional Health President and CEO Jim Bickel talks about the opening of the new Columbus Regional Health facility at NexusPark in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.
Columbus Regional Health President and CEO Jim Bickel said he is planning to retire next year after 17 years at the helm of the county hospital system leading one of the community’s largest employers.
Bickel, who turns 65 this year, made the announcement on Friday, describing his 17 years as the hospital system’s chief executive and 34-year career at CRH as “long, great journey” and highlighting the “great talent and people people” and “spirit of teamwork” at the organization.
“I’ve had a long, great journey here at CRH in various leadership roles,” Bickel told The Republic. “…But I’m at a point in my life where I’m looking forward to the next chapter with my family and I and what we would like to do. And I think it’s time personally for me to step down and embrace the next chapter of my life in retirement. So, it’s really more of a personal decision in that regard than it is professionally. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the various roles I have served in at Columbus Regional Health over the last 34 years, and in particular, the president and CEO role.”
While Bickel said no specific date next year has been set for his last day, the CRH Board of Trustees will set in motion a succession plan, splitting the president and CEO roles into separate positions.
Bickel will stay on as CEO for now to “focus on strategic and long-term initiatives for CRH,” while current CRH Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Baker will assume the role of president to oversee day-to-day operations of the hospital system, in addition to his duties as COO.
Baker, 54, said he is looking forward to the new role and plans to “continue to execute our strategic plan as we have it set forth and really drive (CRH) into the future.”
Baker
“It’s almost like a hand-in-glove relationship now between Jim (Bickel) and myself as we move forward,” Baker told The Republic.
Bickel said the CRH board’s decision to split the president and CEO roles was to help ensure “smooth and seamless transition” and opted to select an internal candidate to be his successor to “minimize the disruption of change at this level in the organization.” Currently, it is not known how long the two roles will remain separate.
“The board of trustees has been engaged, I think, in a very thoughtful process around evaluating external and internal approaches to my successor,” Bickel said. “But as they’ve thought about that and the work that we currently have underway and the priorities and the understanding of the impact of change at the CEO level can have on an organization, they’ve made the decision to select my successor with an internal candidate. …And I think the splitting of the role is really what will help promote that smooth and seamless transition.”
As Bickel prepares to retire, he will leave behind a storied career at CRH.
Bickel was appointed as interim CEO in July 2007 after a candidate who was offered the chief executive role at CRH backed out just days before he was supposed to start.
Before being named interim CEO, he held the roles of manager of facility and internal relocation for one year, director of materials management and support services for seven years and vice president of professional and support services for eight years.
In August 2007, the CRH board named Bickel as the hospital system’s permanent CEO, with Bickel telling The Republic at the time, “I’m very honored and pleased to be given this opportunity by the board and given the chance to more the organization forward and continue on the path we are.”
Bickel would go on to lead CRH through two of the largest challenges that the hospital system has endured over the course of its 107-year history — the COVID-19 pandemic and the catastrophic 2008 flood that prompted staff and the Indiana National Guard to scramble to evacuate 157 patients and temporarily forced the hospital to close its doors while officials renovated and repaired the basement and first floor of the hospital.
He also would spearhead plans to develop a new hospital campus on Columbus’ west side and enter into a joint venture with the city of Columbus to transform the former FairOaks Mall into a health, wellness and recreation center now known as NexusPark.
“Looking back as president and CEO, we’ve had a number of things that have occurred, whether you want to look at the pandemic, COVID-19 most recently all the way back to the flood of 2008,” Bickel said. “…There were a lot of things that were not planned, and other things … that we did plan, such as bringing and unifying our outpatient and physician practices together with NexusPark and those things. But regardless of whether it was planned or unplanned, when I look at some of those significant events that I just referenced, what sticks out the most for me is regardless of the challenge or the opportunity that was in front of us, it has been the great talent and people that we have within this organization that have stepped up to those unplanned challenges.”
After retiring, Bickel said he and his wife plan to spend time with family, grandchildren, travel and possibly pursue “certain hobbies that I have.”
“We’re kind of working through what all that looks like,” he said.
Baker is an Indiana native who initially joined CRH in 1998 as a network administrator after serving nearly a decade in the U.S. Air Force, according to CRH’s website.
Baker would take on other roles at CRH, including manager of technical services and later director of technical services before leaving the hospital system in 2010 to join UK Healthcare in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2012, Baker joined East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La., as chief information officer.
Two year later, Baker joined IU Health as executive director of IS infrastructure before returning to CRH in 2016 as vice president and chief technology and information officer.
In 2020, Baker became vice president and chief administrative officer at CRH before taking on the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer two years later.
Baker also serves on the Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation Board and the Ascension Rural Healthcare Board. He and his wife, Deanna, have two adult children.
When not working, Baker enjoys the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing.
“I’m very excited that next opportunity in my career to lead this organization” Baker said, referring to his new role as president and COO.
