A tumultuous week at Memorial Healthcare System has ended with numerous departures of key executives and leadership changes.
After the sudden departure on Tuesday of Caitlin Stella as CEO of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, the chief medical officer, Dr. Ronald Ford, resigned on Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said. The children’s hospital is part of Memorial Healthcare System.
Shane Strum, the health system’s interim CEO, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel late Wednesday that Stella’s employment was severed after more than eight years with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital as part of a reorganization.
“It’s a reorganization that lets Paul Gaden, the CEO of Memorial (our flagship), expand his oversight of the entire Memorial Regional Hospital campus, which includes Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital,” Strum wrote in a statement.
The children’s hospital is the largest pediatric hospital serving Broward County and is part of the taxpayer-funded Memorial Healthcare System.
Stella had been recruited to lead the hospital in June 2018 and had overseen a $166 million expansion, the development of corporate partnerships and the improvement of patient care.
Ford had served as chief medical officer since 2019, overseeing clinical operations and pediatric care. He has also been a go-to expert on pediatric medical conditions.
“We appreciate all that Dr. Ford has contributed to the hospital and patients and wish him well,” said Tania Ordaz Pla, a spokeswoman for Memorial Healthcare System.
The changes at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital come at a time when Miami-based Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has partnered with taxpayer-funded Broward Health to operate out of two of its hospitals. In a unique arrangement, Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System share Strum as CEO.
Nicklaus, a private, not-for profit hospital, has aggressively developed its footprint in Broward County, also opening a large specialty care center in Davie.
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital CEO Caitlin Stella on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
In addition to the children’s hospital, Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines has had leadership changes. CEO Joseph Stuczynski and Judy Frum, chief operating officer, are no longer with the organization.
Stuczynski, who served in leadership roles at Memorial Healthcare System since 2005, retired in July.
Frum’s employment with Memorial was severed this week. She had held numerous leadership roles with Memorial Healthcare System, including chief nursing officer and chief operating officer of Memorial Regional Hospital. After a stint with Broward Health, she had been COO of Memorial Hospital West since September 2023.
Stephen Demers, CEO of Memorial Hospital Miramar, took over in Pembroke Pines for the retired Stuczynski.
“Steve is building his own leadership team and will select his own COO,” Ordaz Pla said.
In addition, another hospital executive, Felicia Turnley, has been appointed CEO of Memorial Hospital Miramar, the position previously held by Demers.
Attempts to reach Stella, Frum and Ford for comment have been unsuccessful.
South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com or 954-304-5908.