Craig Leach, chief executive officer of Torrance Memorial Medical Center and former HASC board member, will retire on October 31, 2023. He served for almost 40 years with the hospital. Keith Hobbs will assume the role of president and CEO effective November 1.
“Craig’s longtime skilled leadership will certainly be missed,” said Greg Geiger, the hospital’s board chair. “We have all benefitted from Craig’s strategic vision for Torrance Memorial. He is a gifted executive, able to combine his strong technical expertise with compassion and humility. Under his leadership, Torrance Memorial has a consistent record of being ranked among the finest hospitals in the state and the nation.”
Leach joined the medical center in 1984 as director of finance. He later served as senior vice president of finance and executive vice president and chief operating officer. Leach became president and CEO in 2006.
“Torrance Memorial and the health care industry have changed so much from when I started,” says Leach. “I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished during my years here, and I am especially grateful to our doctors, nurses and staff who have been committed to providing exceptional care throughout the years and especially under the pressure of an unprecedented pandemic.”
During Leach’s tenure, Torrance Memorial began its greatest expansion to meet the community’s need for acute hospital, ambulatory medical and diagnostic services. In 2014 the hospital opened the Lundquist Tower, expanding its cutting-edge technology and specialty services in the South Bay. Most recently, under Leach’s leadership, the hospital opened a 42,000-square-foot multispecialty medical building in El Segundo.
Leach is also credited with launching Torrance Memorial Physician Enterprise, which includes a medical group, an independent practice association and an accountable care organization. In 2018, Leach led the medical center into a new affiliation with Cedars-Sinai Health System. The collaboration provides the hospital’s patients with local access to advanced treatments for cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders — all backed by a major academic medical center.
“Craig’s leadership and foresight enabled us to lay the foundation for the affiliation between Torrance Memorial and Cedars-Sinai,” said Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Heath System. “Craig has built a formidable organization during his nearly two decades leading Torrance Memorial. I am proud to call him a valued colleague and friend, and wish him the very best.”
Leach said, “It has been my honor to work with the many talented people of Torrance Memorial in our commitment to delivering exceptional care to all of our patients. I’m proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved together, and I am confident that what we’ve started will continue to build in our community for many years to come.”