Reliant Names New CEO

Courtesy Dr. Armin Ernst is leaving Steward Health Care to lead Reliant Medical Group.

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By Rick Saia

Dr. Armin Ernst, an executive with Steward Health Care, will become president and CEO of Reliant Medical Group, succeeding the retiring Jack Dutzar, the Worcester-based medical provider announced today.

Ernst has extensive experience building integrated, high-performance physician systems and teams within large academic medical centers, a statement from Reliant said. As a vice president at Steward, he led the largest business unit within Steward Medical Group, overseeing 200 providers and 600 staff. In that role, he also led an effort to consolidate practice sites across the Steward system into high-performing business operations, Reliant said.

He will take over as CEO in late March, when Dutzar retires after five years in the role.

At Steward, Ernst was also vice president for the thoracic service line, responsible for clinical oversight of all Thoracic services in the Steward system, the statement said. He conceived, designed and implemented integrated thoracic services across hospitals, facilitating the development of an infrastructure prepared to function in an accountable care organization (ACO) environment.

“We feel very fortunate that our long and comprehensive executive search has led us to Dr. Armin Ernst,” said Dr. Robert Yood, board chair and member of Reliant’s CEO search committee. “Dr. Ernst will bring to this position a wealth of executive experience, honed in some of the country’s most prestigious medical facilities.”

An award-winning pulmonologist, Ernst was also chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Brighton. In that role, Reliant said, he oversaw all critical care and pulmonary activities in the hospital. And, during his three-year tenure in this position, he grew the division’s physician workforce by 30 percent. He is also a professor of medicine at Tufts University Medical School.