An exterior view of Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
COLUMBUS, Ind. — After 35 years with the organization, Dr. Tom Sonderman, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Columbus Regional Health, has announced his intent to retire from the role on March 31, 2025. He has served as chief medical officer for 21 years.
“On behalf of CRH, I want to offer a hearty congratulations to Dr. Sonderman, and express our most sincere appreciation to him for many impressive years of dedication, leadership, and advocacy for this organization, and the patients and communities we serve,” said Steve Baker, president and COO of Columbus Regional Health.
Dr. Sonderman joined the CRH (then Bartholomew County Hospital) Medical Staff as an emergency physician in 1989. One of his proudest accomplishments was being one of the founding members of Emergency Physicians Inc – Columbus (EPIC) medical group. The EPIC medical group has provided uninterrupted emergency physician services to CRH for more than 30 years.
During his tenure, Dr. Sonderman was at the helm of numerous exciting and transformative initiatives, including launching PromptMed urgent care center, the adult hospitalist and pediatric hospitalist programs, the creation of Columbus Regional Health Physicians, and numerous building and expansion projects, including the implementation of Epic as the unified CRH electronic medical record platform. He was honored to serve as CRH Chief of Staff from 2001 through 2002, and assumed the Chief Medical Officer role in 2003. Dr. Sonderman’s expert, professional, and steady guidance also helped lead CRH through challenging times, such as the 2008 flood, Ebola and H1N1 scares and, of course, the COVID pandemic.
Columbus Regional Health opted not to conduct an external search for Dr. Sonderman’s successor, and has announced that Associate Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lee Kiser will assume the role of chief medical officer upon Dr. Sonderman’s retirement.
As one of the Associate Chief Medical Officers, Dr. Lee Kiser oversees the inpatient and medical specialty providers. Dr. Kiser has been caring for patients at Columbus Regional Health for more than 20 years, both in the inpatient and private practice setting. He has served in multiple leadership roles including Medical Section Chief and Chief of Staff.
In addition to his fulltime role as ACMO, which he assumed in 2022, Dr. Kiser intermittently continues to see patients as a hospitalist.
This story will be updated.
