Health care nonprofit CEO retires

FORT MYERS — Bob Simpson, who has run LeeSar/Cooperative Services of Florida for 15 years, has announced his retirement.

A nonprofit health care supply chain, LeeSar was created in 1998 to deliver goods and services to Lee Health and Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System. But when Simpson came on board in 2002, the organization was struggling, says Lee Health CEO Jim Nathan, a LeeSar/CSF Board member.

“At the time Bob was hired in 2002, he told me that he wanted me to be able to sleep at night knowing that not only was the business in good hands but that it would be amazingly successful,” says Nathan in a statement. “Bob's visionary leadership transformed the company into an award winning and nationally recognized resource that allows member health systems to become more efficient, while also improving patient care. We are all very proud of LeeSar/CSF and appreciative of Bob's caring and focused leadership.”

Under Simpson's leadership, LeeSar/CSF has grown 18% to 20% a year. A 205,000-square-foot regional service center is currently under expansion to meet growing demand, a project that will add approximately 100,000 square feet to the facility and bring 50 new jobs.

Simpson says he will stay with the organization and assist in finding a successor, according to the statement. “I've been blessed to work with some of the greatest minds in business and medicine to bring innovative solutions that improve the care we provide in this community,” Simpson says in the release. “It's allowed caregivers to focus on what's important: the patients.

Adds Simpson: “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity and I have every confidence that the outstanding leadership in place at LeeSar will continue to fulfill the organization's mission.”