COO promoted to president of hospital campus

SARASOTA — Lorrie Liang, who previously served as Sarasota Memorial Health Care System’s COO, has been appointed president of the Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Sarasota campus.

In her expanded role, Liang will oversee strategic initiatives, operations and overall performance of the main hospital in Sarasota, according to a press release. 

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is changing its leadership structure this year to integrate and coordinate care across the health system’s expanding hospital network, the statement says. This fall, Sarasota Memorial plans to open a new hospital in Venice.

Liang, along with Sharon Roush, president of the Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice campus, and senior leaders for the health system’s First Physicians Group, Ambulatory Services and Corporate/Support Services, report to Sarasota Memorial Health Care System President and CEO David Verinder. 

“Since joining Sarasota Memorial in 2015, Lorrie has been an outstanding and versatile leader focused on Sarasota Memorial’s long-standing mission, vision and values," says Verinder, who continues to lead the health system as a whole, in a statement. "This promotion reflects my confidence in her leadership abilities and track record for transforming vision into results." 

Liang has more than 30 years of experience in hospital leadership and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

Before joining Sarasota Memorial Health Care System as COO in 2015, she served as vice president of the nonprofit LifeBridge Health System/Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. In that role, she led hospital operations, service lines, physician practice groups, graduate medical education and clinical research programs in academic and community health systems.

As COO, Liang managed eight clinical and support divisions across Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. She also spearheaded construction and renovation projects that have expanded the size and scope of services at the hospital’s Sarasota campus and outpatient network, including a Rehabilitation Pavilion, the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute and strategic planning for a behavioral health replacement hospital on the Sarasota campus. In recent weeks, she has managed the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

“I am incredibly proud of the care that Sarasota Memorial provides to this community, and to take part in a century of leadership that will help it continue to grow and evolve to meet the region’s changing needs,” says Liang in the statement. “This past year has been one of the most challenging, but also the most rewarding. I feel privileged to guide this public institution and our team through these difficult times and help protect this public asset for generations to come.”

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center with more than 1 million patient visits each year. The system includes a flagship 839-bed acute care hospital.