Hendricks Regional Health looks within for new CEO

Hendricks Regional Health looked within its own ranks to choose its next leader. Dr. Michelle Fenoughty, a 20-year veteran of the Danville-based health system, will become its next president and CEO on July 10 after being selected by the board of trustees.

The board chose Fenoughty following a search that gave consideration to more than 40 candidates. She will be the system’s fifth leader in its 61-year history and its first female president.

She succeeds Kevin Speer, who became president in 2012 and resigned in March to lead Ascension St. Vincent Indiana.

“The board believes that Dr. Fenoughty’s wealth of knowledge and experience will help Hendricks position itself for success in the coming years,” Board Chair Erin Engels said in a written statement. “Her exceptional work with the medical staff and her capabilities in understand the current and future challenges of the health care industry made her a highly desirable candidate.”

Fenoughty joined Hendricks in 2002 as an OB-GYN at Westside Physicians for Women. She served as chair of an OB/Pediatrics committee from 2004 to 2011, chief of staff from 2011 to 2015 and was named senior vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer in 2015.

“I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to lead a place and a group of people that have meant so much to me for the last 21 years,” Fenoughty said in written remarks. “Hendricks is truly a second home to me. With a talented, compassionate medical staff and an experienced, focused leadership team in place, we will advance health care in west central Indiana and charter our path forward with courage, collaboration and innovation as our guiding principles.”

Hendricks leaders credit Fenoughty for her work in the implementation of an electronic medical record system, her role in responding to the coronavirus pandemic and her effort to collaborate with the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

The incoming CEO graduated from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and completed her OB-GYN residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis. She also received an MBA from IU’s Kelley School of Business.