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Emotional Farewell as Miller Steps Down from Schneider Medical Center

Sept. 20, 2007 — A little more than five years ago, 29-year-old Rodney Miller took the reins of the then-Roy Lester Schneider Hospital as the new and untested president and chief executive officer, pledging to bring world-class quality health care to the territory.
Thursday morning, the Schneider Regional Medical Center's longest serving leader bade an emotional farewell to those who have become "family'' to him over the past five years.
Miller took the podium, squared his shoulders, began his address, and reached for a handkerchief.
"It is with a heavy, heavy heart," Miller began, "that I resign my position." He started to thank his board members, but paused as board chair June Adams came to his side.
Wiping away tears and mustering a slight smile, Miller said, "Only real men show emotion."
The packed auditorium was with Miller all the way. "I have to say this hasn't been typical for the past years," he joked. "Deciding to accept this position was clearly one of the best decisions that I have made in my life. The Virgin Islands community has accepted me and my family with open arms," he said.
"During the past five years, I have grown professionally and personally," he said. "Much of the professional growth has been because of the unwavering support of the board, administration and the staff." Singling out board and staff members for special praise, Miller said, "I have never worked with a more dedicated and committed group of individuals."
"There comes a time when any good leader knows it's time to step aside and conquer new challenges," Miller said. "Regretfully, that time has come."
Miller will leave in early November to move to Hollywood, Fla., where he will be administrator and chief executive officer of Memorial Regional Hospital, a half-billion dollar facility. Miller said the 690-bed hospital is the flagship of the Memorial Healthcare system, a six-hospital, public, nonprofit healthcare provider, the seventh largest public healthcare system in the nation.
Adams moved to the podium. "It is with a very, very heavy heart I stand here," she said. "I always get teased about when Rodney first came, after our nine-month search to find him. I said then, 'It's like a woman, after nine months we've been given a bouncing baby boy.'"
Adams spoke at length of Miller's achievements, not the least of which was picking his successor, Amos Carty, Schneider center chief operating officer and general counsel.
"We have a true product of the soil," Adams said, "who has steered our organization clear of liabilities, provided sound advice, shown complete competence when acting in the top leadership position. Moreover," she said, "he has won the respect of the employees whom he will lead."
Underscoring Adams' last remark, the auditorium broke into wild applause, cheering and a standing ovation.
Miller said, "If you know me, you know I supported Amos from day one. It has always been my dream to have a qualified native Virgin Islander to lead the center. Amos and I are the best one-two punch in the history of the Roy Lester Schneider Medical Center."
Carty was brief in his remarks. "I am humbled by your confidence in me," he said. "I haven't taken the traditional path to this position. I've been general counsel for eight years, and chief operating officer for five. I want to thank you. Rodney has been my friend, my mentor and my boss. At the end of the day, he has taught me to be a better person, and if I need him, I know where to find him. I love you, Rodney."
Facing his audience, Carty said, "Now, we have to step up to new challenges."
Adams reflected on the past five years under Miller's watch.
"After one year, the hospital and health center were for the first time in their history, fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, JCAHO," Adams said.
Miller has also achieved other benchmarks first announced at a chamber of commerce luncheon in 2002: increase federal grants and private endowments; complete a certified audit for fiscal year 2002 to insure the hospital's financial solvency; complete computer automation to improve billing and accountability; and, the crowning jewel, the completion of the $18 million, 24,000-square-foot Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute in 2006.
Adams noted that Miller worked with the financial services team to improve cash collections. "The end result," she said, "is that in FY 2006 net revenue collections was $23 million or 110 percent higher than it was in FY 2001."
Along the way, Miller was honored at Rotary Club II of St. Thomas as 2004 Person of the Year and was named one of the top 25 minority executives in healthcare by "Modern Healthcare" magazine last year.
Speaking after the ceremony, Adams said Miller had promised the board three years' tenure. "When the three years were up, he was offered a job for $500,000 a year. He wouldn't take it. He said he hadn't finished what he had set out to do, and he's stayed another two years, and he has always been grooming Amos to take over," she said.
Nurse Marlene Adams, Clinical Care Coordinator Charlene Jones and several staff members spoke to the Source. "
We want you to know the nursing staff is so proud of Mr. Miller, and we will miss him dearly," Marlene Adams said.
"He did what he set out to do," Jones said. They all said they were also proud to have Carty taking over.
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