Karmon Bjella, president, MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, this week announced his decision to retire July 1, 2018.

Bjella has been with the Medical Center in Alpena as president since November 2007. Before coming to MidMichigan he served as president and CEO of Unity Healthcare in Muscatine, Iowa for 11 years, as well as vice president of Iowa Health System.

The MidMichigan Health Board of Directors will appoint a search committee to conduct a nationwide search to fill his position. Under Bjella’s leadership as president, the Medical Center affiliated with MidMichigan Health in April 2016, changing its name from Alpena Regional Medical Center to MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena. The affiliation made the Medical Center in Alpena the second-largest subsidiary of MidMichigan.

Additionally, in Bjella’s 10 years as president, the Medical Center underwent a $7.5 million renovation of the emergency department. The project was complete completed in Fall 2016 and now includes 20 private rooms and 21 beds after a 2,430 square foot expansion, as well as significant upgrades to the technology and medical equipment. The Medical Center has also received several honors under Bjella’s tenure including the Michigan Quality Improvement Organization (MPRO) 2017 Governor’s Award of Excellence, being named to Becker’s Hospital Review 2017 list of 100 Great Community Hospitals and as one of 20 facilities in the U.S. to be named a Top Rural Community Hospital.

“Our organization has undergone so many positive changes in just a short time since affiliating with MidMichigan and it has inevitably strengthened our Medical Center and what we provide our patients,” said Bjella. “To make strides in program development, especially information technology such as Epic, requires a larger, more sophisticated organization to get the job done and to get the job done well. I am looking forward to my next chapter of retirement and am confident the Medical Center in Alpena will be successful and have a strong and healthy future.”

In September MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena transitioned to Epic, MidMichigan’s new electronic medical record (EMR) system.

Bjella, a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a master’s in health administration and he received his bachelor’s degree from Montana State University-Bozeman.