New dean, CEO named for School of Medicine, Palmetto Health partnership
Posted on: 10/14/2014; Updated on: 10/14/2014By Jeff Stensland
Palmetto Health and the University of South Carolina announced the appointment of Les Hall, M.D., as chief executive officer of the Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group and executive dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
Hall will join Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group and the School of Medicine on Feb. 1, 2015. He currently serves as interim dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
As CEO, Hall will oversee and advance the clinical integration of Palmetto Health’s physician practices and the School of Medicine’s clinical departments to create the Midlands’ largest multispecialty medical group. This new 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization will include more than 1,300 health care professionals, including nearly 400 physicians, and offer patients the broadest range of health care services in the Midlands. The new medical group is expected to begin operations in 2015.
“Throughout the search process, Palmetto Health and the University of South Carolina shared a common goal – to find a physician leader who will more closely align our organizations through the integration of our health care delivery services,” said Charles D. Beaman Jr., CEO of Palmetto Health. “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Hall as the first CEO of Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group and look forward to his guidance as we advance and expand the quality of health care provided to patients living in the Midlands and beyond.”
As executive dean, Hall will lead the education, research and clinical missions at the School of Medicine. He will oversee all academic and research programs, and support the growth of undergraduate medical education at the Columbia campus. He will be the seventh permanent dean to lead the School of Medicine since the school opened in 1977.
“Dr. Hall’s broad knowledge of academic medicine and his experience leading a medical school through the ever-changing health care environment will serve the faculty and students well at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine,” said Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina. “We welcome him to the Carolina family and share his enthusiasm for providing a high-quality medical education to our students and supporting new medical breakthroughs through our research endeavors.”
Hall received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completed an internal medicine residency at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. A member of the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) faculty since 1999, Dr. Hall has held several leadership positions within the University of Missouri Health System (MU Health Care). He was appointed interim dean in 2012, and previously served four years as chief medical officer of MU Health Care and senior associate dean for Clinical Affairs at MU School of Medicine. As a hospitalist, he has continued seeing patients while also educating medical students throughout his tenure of leadership.
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