McKenzie-Willamette names Mark Robinson as new CEO in Springfield

McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center has chosen Mark Robinson to take over as chief executive, putting a longtime hospital operator in charge of a Springfield institution that is still working through interim leadership, a pending ownership change and the same patient concerns Lane County residents face every day. Robinson will start July 20, and his arrival raises a familiar question for patients: whether a new name at the top will mean any real change in access, wait times, staffing stability and cost.

Robinson most recently served as chief executive of Great Falls Hospital and Clinic in Montana. Before that, he was market leader and president of Tacoma and Allenmore hospitals for MultiCare, and earlier in his career he held several chief executive and chief operating officer roles within HCA Healthcare for nearly two decades. McKenzie-Willamette said he brings nearly 30 years of hospital operations and executive leadership experience. He also holds an MBA and an MHA from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he played Division I soccer.

The hospital’s leadership change comes after a turbulent year. In July 2025, McKenzie-Willamette fired then-CEO David Butler and chief nursing officer Desi Shubin. Gregory Brentano was named interim chief executive and Shelley Harris interim chief nursing officer after Quorum Health, which owns the hospital, said the changes reflected a difference in vision for the hospital’s future.

Robinson is stepping in as McKenzie-Willamette also moves through a broader ownership transition. As of early June, the Springfield hospital was poised to become nonprofit-owned if regulators approve a merger between Quorum Health and Healthside Partners. Quorum has said that structure would not bring layoffs, pay cuts or immediate service changes, and that it could open the door to estimated annual savings of $11 million through federal 340B drug pricing access.

For patients, the practical stakes are closer to the bedside than the boardroom. McKenzie-Willamette describes itself as a 113-bed community hospital accredited by The Joint Commission, with Level III Trauma Center accreditation and a 30-minute-or-less emergency room service pledge. Its core services include cardiovascular care through the McKenzie Heart, Lung, and Vascular Center, obstetrics, general surgery, orthopedics, urology, radiology, rehabilitation, robotic surgery, telemedicine and wound care. The hospital also said it became in-network with Trillium Community Health Plan on Jan. 1, a development that could affect what local patients pay.

Dr. Jay Chappell, chairman of the board, said the hospital is confident Robinson can lead McKenzie-Willamette forward and pointed to his experience and commitment to the people who work there. Robinson said he and his family plan to relocate to the Springfield area before he starts. For Lane County patients, the real test will be whether that transition brings steadier staffing, faster care and clearer affordability, or only a new executive nameplate.