LewisGale Medical Center has hired Andrew Welcome as chief operating officer for the 506-bed acute-care medical and surgical facility.Welcome comes from HCA Florida Mercy Hospital, a 488-bed facility in Miami, Florida, where he served as vice president of operations and ethics and compliance officer. Andrew was responsible for executing an aggressive growth agenda including both a head and neck oncology program and endoscopic skull-based neurosurgery program. Additionally, he operationalized Mercy's first freestanding emergency department, assisted in launching a Level III NICU, and developed multiple business cases for infrastructure projects.
Prior to Mercy Hospital, Welcome spent several years at HCA Healthcare's Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children's Hospital, an 834-bed adult and pediatric Level II trauma facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Highlights of his time at Sunrise include helping develop the Burn and Reconstructive Center, leading multiple facility construction projects, and managing a variety of ancillary departments.
"Andrew's knowledge of today's healthcare landscape and experience in hospital operations will be instrumental in LewisGale Medical Center's continued growth," said Alan Fabian, LewisGale Regional Health System market president. "We are excited to include him on our leadership team to support our long-term strategies and care for our community."
In addition to his career experience, Welcome earned his Bachelor of Arts from Duke University in political science with minors in computer science and population health. He also obtained his Master in Healthcare Administration from the University of Washington.