Oct. 11—LUMBERTON — UNC Health Southeastern's new President and CEO Chris Ellington began his duties Monday.
Ellington is the health system's fifth CEO since it opened under the name Robeson County Memorial Hospital in 1953. His appointment was announced in July after Joann Anderson retired from serving 14 years as the head of the organization. With Ellington's arrival, Anderson will shift to an advisory role through the end of the year, accordnig to informaton provided to The Robesonian.
Before accepting the leadership post at UNC Health Southeastern, Ellington served as president of UNC Health Care Network Hospitals. Along with his statewide focus, Ellington served concurrently as the executive vice president and chief financial officer for UNC Hospitals from 2008 to 2020. Before joining UNC in 2008, Ellington worked in senior leadership roles in multi-entity healthcare systems in Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama and Texas.
Ellington earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Clemson University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. He holds a board appointment with the North Carolina Healthcare Association.
"I am looking forward to working with our employees, clinicians and trustee board to further advance the high quality, local healthcare that has been achieved during Joann's tenure," Ellington said.
"I also am eager to get to know the communities we serve and our patient base so that future healthcare decisions that are made will advance their health, expanding access and resources for positive and healthy outcomes," he added.
Ellington and his wife, Lee, have relocated from Chapel Hill to Lumberton.