KNOXVILLE, TENN., March 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Jack Lacey, senior vice president and Chief Medical Officer with nearly four decades of service at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, retires from his role on March 31, the medical center's CEO announced. Lacey began his internal medicine practice in affiliation with the medical center in 1977.
"Dr. Lacey is not only one of the best doctors and most skilled physicians I've known, but he's also one of the finest individuals I've ever had the pleasure of meeting," said Joseph R. Landsman, Jr., president and CEO of The University of Tennessee Medical Center. "Jack's compassion as well as his dedication to his patients and our community is demonstrative of the leadership he has provided to our team members and this campus for nearly forty years."
In addition to Lacey's physician and administrative roles at the medical center, he is credited as the physician leader who helped create Knoxville Area Project Access, a partnership with the Knoxville Academy of Medicine as well as physicians and health systems in the Knoxville area that has provided pro bono primary and specialty healthcare services for the uninsured and medically underserved in the region since 2005. He additionally served, at the request of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, as the inaugural chair of the Governor's Health and Wellness Task Force, a group that formed in 2011 and unveiled a plan in 2013 to improve Tennessee's overall health as well as its standings in the annual America's Health Rankings study.
"Any accomplishments attributed to me are in truth the result of the supporting and partnering relationships I have been blessed with at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, as well as the unwarranted mercy and blessings of the good Lord," said Lacey. "All of our wonderful physicians have great skills and great hearts. I know this because I have never asked for help with a patient and not received it with great professionalism and expertise."
Having served in the Chief Medical Officer role at the medical center since 1998, Lacey's awards and contributions are numerous. A few stand out as milestones.
In 1991, he earned recognition by Ned McWherter, Tennessee Governor at the time, as the recipient of the Tennessee Outstanding Achievement Award. More recently, Lacey received a 2015 Tennessee Hospital Association Award of Excellence for devoting his career to improving healthcare in the community, region, and state. While continuing his administrative and physician practice roles into his final year at the medical center, Lacey also served as co-chair of the United Way of Greater Knoxville 2015 campaign, which reached its goal of raising more than $13 million to benefit Knoxville residents in need of education, income and health assistance.
Dr. Jerry Epps, who most recently served as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology with the medical center and UT Graduate School of Medicine, will succeed Lacey as senior vice president and Chief Medical Officer.
The mission of The University of Tennessee Medical Center, the region's only hospital to achieve status as a Magnet® recognized organization, is to serve through healing, education and discovery. UT Medical Center, a 609-bed, not-for-profit academic medical center, serves as a referral center for Eastern Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky and Western North Carolina. The medical center, the region's only Level I Trauma Center, is one of the largest employers in Knoxville. For more information about The University of Tennessee Medical Center, visit online at https://www.utmedicalcenter.org.
A photo accompanying this release is available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=39445
