Mediclinic promotes chief clinical officer to CEO role

Private hospital operator Mediclinic International has appointed its current chief clinical officer, Carel Aron van der Merwe, as chief executive officer, succeeding Danie Meintjes, whose retirement was announced in July.

The appointment will be made effective on a date to be mutually agreed, but no later than 1 August.

Van der Merwe joined the company in 1999 and has been a member of the group's Executive Committee since 2008. He established the Clinical Information, Advanced Analytics, Health Information Management and Clinical Services functions at Mediclinic and has been chief clinical officer since 2007.

Mediclinic chairman, Edwin Hertzog, said: "Danie has been instrumental to the development of Mediclinic into a respected international healthcare provider delivering high-quality, cost-efficient services to patients. We look forward to continuing to work with him until his retirement.

"We are delighted that Ronnie van der Merwe will succeed Danie in leading Mediclinic, following the thorough and rigorous global selection process carried out by the Nomination Committee with the support from the other non-executive directors. The committee and the board were unanimous in their support for Ronnie, given his extensive knowledge of Mediclinic's international operations and strong track record of driving enhancements especially in the quality and effectiveness of our clinical services."

At 1510 GMT, the shares were down 0.8% to 516.50p.