FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) announced today that Rachel A. Seifert, Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel, will retire at the end of March 2017. Seifert has served as the Company’s General Counsel since joining the organization in 1998. Seifert oversees the Company’s legal department and serves as Secretary to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Ben Fordham, who currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Litigation Counsel at Community Health Systems, will be appointed Interim General Counsel upon Seifert’s retirement.
Commenting on the announcement, Wayne T. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Community Health Systems, Inc., said, “Through nearly two decades of leadership, Rachel Seifert’s range of responsibility has been broad and dynamic. She has provided sharp counsel and management for all of the Company’s legal matters, legal direction in support of all of our major transactions and corporate financing, oversight for SEC compliance, expertise on regulatory matters, and corporate governance support for our Board of Directors. I am deeply grateful to Rachel for her many contributions to our success.”
Seifert is a 19-year veteran of Community Health Systems and has more than 35 years of legal experience. She joined Community Health Systems as the first and only member of the Legal Department and steadily assembled a strong team of attorneys. Prior to joining Community Health Systems, Seifert worked for Columbia/HCA where she served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel after spending seven years in private law practice. She received her law degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.
Fordham joined Community Health Systems in 2007 with 29-years of private practice experience in litigation, mergers and acquisitions, general business and health law. Fordham received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Duke University and his law degree from Vanderbilt University.
About Community Health Systems, Inc.
Community Health Systems, Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded hospital companies in the United States and a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in communities across the country. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns, leases or operates 158 affiliated hospitals in 22 states with an aggregate of nearly 27,000 licensed beds. The Company’s headquarters are located in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb south of Nashville. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CYH.” More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.chs.net.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this news release regarding potential transactions, operating results, and other events are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Community Health Systems, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, current reports on Form 8-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
