CHOC President Resigns After Serving Since 1989

Thomas Penn Jones, chief executive officer and president of Children’s Hospital of Orange County since 1989, is leaving his post, the hospital announced Friday.

The 192-bed hospital released a short statement in which Dr. Ken Heuler, chairman of the CHOC board of directors, announced Jones’ resignation but gave no reason for the turn of events. He said that no other management changes are expected in the near future.

“During the interim period while we seek a successor, those duties performed by the CEO will be undertaken by committees of the board,” Heuler said in the statement.

Neither Jones nor Heuler could be reached for comment.

Jones’ departure comes at a turbulent time for hospitals in Orange County and throughout the nation, as the growth of managed care and other changes have prompted cost-cutting, mergers and layoffs.

CHOC shaved its work force by 15% in June 1995, the first staff cuts in the history of the not-for-profit hospital. According to the Orange County Business Journal, the 33-year-old hospital reported having a 1995 net operating loss of $16 million and a 16% decrease in patient days, a measurement of how many patients use the hospital.

Heuler’s statement said the present management staff “will continue in their administrative roles relative to the hospital, Children’s Hospital at Mission and CHOC Thrift Stores,” and added that other hospital employees “will be unaffected by this temporary situation.”

Jones joined the hospital in 1978, heading fiscal services for 11 years before being named president. He previously worked at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland and at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.