Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital names a new chief medical officer

ALBANY — Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital announced on Wednesday that Dr. Steve Kitchen will be assuming the role of chief medical officer in September.

The role had be filled up until recently by Dr. Doug Patten, who for the last several weeks has been serving as the interim CEO at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center. Next week, he takes a position at the Georgia Hospital Association. Dr. Frank Middleton has been in the role of interim chief medical officer.

In his new position, Kitchen said he would continue the efforts of his predecessors by working on initiatives for improvement of quality of care and patient safety.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “There’s a certain side of it that will be a big challenge. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.

“… I have been intimately involved with quality improvement. It is an active interest of mine and I look forward to devoting more time to that.”

Kitchen has been practicing obstetrics and gynecology in the Albany area for 25 years and is a partner at Women’s Health Professionals. In order to take his new position, he will be winding down his practice in late August while a new partner come in to take his place, he said Wednesday.

Kitchen received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed his residency at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore. He has served as chief of staff at Phoebe since 2013, and twice served as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He currently serves on the credentials committee and the surgical review committee for the hospital.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Steve Kitchen into the role of Chief Medical Officer at Phoebe,” Phoebe Putney Health System CEO Joel Wernick said in a statement Wednesday. “Over the past 25 years, his dedication to the health of those in this community has made him one of the most highly regarded physicians among his patients and his peers. He has served on numerous committees and championed a commitment to preserving professionalism in the medical field.”

The formal announcement was made at the hospital’s board meeting on Wednesday. Also at the meeting, the board approved a patient grievance policy that authorized the formation of a small committee to handle such complaints.