New London — Bruce Cummings, president and chief executive officer of Lawrence + Memorial Healthcare for the past 11 years, announced this week that he will retire once his successor is hired, which should occur within three to nine months.

Cummings, who turned 65 in November, said he waited to make a public announcement about his retirement until the affiliation with the Yale New Haven Health network had been approved and the integration of L+M into the larger system was underway. State regulators approved the joining of L+M with the larger network in September.

“I made a commitment that I would see L+M through until the affiliation was well on track,” he said during an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday morning, Cummings announced his decision to about 175 senior managers at L+M, and an email was sent to all staff. He said the hospital’s board of trustees had been informed privately last June. A search process for his successor began “quietly” after the affiliation was approved.

But he delayed announcing the decision more broadly to avoid “deflecting attention or interfering with the affiliation process,” and to give the two systems a few months to “work through the many tasks of the integration.”

Cummings said the timing of the announcement this week was “best ... for me, my family and the organization."

“It was of paramount importance for me to ensure our affiliation with Yale New Haven Health would not only be approved, but prosper,” he said in a news release.

A national search for his successor is being undertaken by Korn Ferry International, a Los Angeles-based firm. The new president and chief executive officer will have the same title and responsibilities, including serving as executive vice president of Yale New Haven Health and reporting to Yale New Haven President and Chief Executive Officer Marna Borgstrom.

In Korn Ferry's eight-page posting for the position, the new president being sought is described as someone who "must understand how to leverage the value of" Yale New Haven Health for L+M and The Westerly Hospital, "while understanding how to remain focused as an institution deeply rooted in, and committed to, the communities it serves."

The new president also should be a "passionate and focused executive who understands daily operations and has the vision and enthusiasm for patient care ... " and should "create energy and excitement in the hospital by being a visible leader. Embody the philosophy of 'management by walking around.'" The ability to build partnerships with physicians and foster a spirit of cooperation also is required.

Candidates should have a minimum of 10 years of experience in a community teaching hospital and are preferred if they have prior experience as a president/chief executive officer and experience in a multi-hospital health system. "Physician executives are also encouraged to apply," the December posting states. Salary and benefits would depend on experience and qualifications. Cummings' annual salary is $761,873.

Cummings said he will remain in his current position until a successor is chosen through a collaborative decision of the L+M and Yale New Haven boards.

In addition to Cummings’ retirement, L+M also announced that Denise Fiore, vice president for clinical services at Yale New Haven Hospital, has been assigned to work at L+M on an interim basis to further the integration of the two systems. A third recent change in L+M leadership also has occurred with the retirement at the end of December of Dr. Daniel Rissi, L+M’s chief medical officer. Selection of a replacement is in final stages, Cummings said.

Cummings cited three challenges as the most difficult of his tenure: the state tax on hospitals, instituted in 2014; “unrelenting” cuts in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements to hospitals; and the four-day strike and three-week lockout of 2013 that cost L+M an estimated $14.3 million.

“The labor action was extremely painful,” he said. “It was a great personal and professional disappointment for me that that happened.”

Along with increasing financial challenges, he said, recruiting physicians for key specialties became increasingly difficult for small community hospitals such as L+M. Those factors were main reasons he turned to affiliating with the larger Yale New Haven network, a move he now cites as one of the chief accomplishments of his time at L+M.

“A centerpiece of the affiliation agreement is a commitment to further enhance access to locally available primary care and special services,” he noted in the news release.

Other key accomplishments include:

• Founding of the L+M Medical Group, a hospital-affiliated physician organization. As part of the affiliation, LMMG was merged into Yale New Haven’s Northeast Medical Group.

• Acquisition of The Westerly Hospital from receivership in 2013.

• Opening of the Lawrence + Memorial Cancer Center in Waterford in 2013.

• Establishment of a pediatric emergency department in 2012 and pediatric hospitalist service in 2015.

• Addition of emergency angioplasty and elective angioplasty in 2014 in conjunction with Yale New Haven Hospital.

• Awards for L+M including the John D. Thompson Award and The Community Service Award from the Connecticut Hospital Association; establishing a culture of “high reliability” at L+M and Westerly Hospital due to a reduction in serious safety events; and the introduction of the Relationship Based Care program in 2015 to enhance patient and staff satisfaction.

j.benson@theday.com