EMH Regional Healthcare makes its interim CEO its permanent leader

Dr. Donald Sheldon

ELYRIA, Ohio — Dr. Donald Sheldon is the new permanent president of EMH Regional Healthcare System, removing the interim from a position he’s handled since taking over for Kevin Martin, who died in February.

“He knows the community well, has established strong relationships with our leadership team, employees, and our medical staff during his 10 years with EMH,” Kevin Flanigan, board chairman of EMH’s parent company, Comprehensive Healthcare of Ohio, stated in a release. “Our board is confident Don will continue to lead this excellent organization in an exemplary manner.”

Sheldon has been the vice president of medical affairs at EMH since 1998 and before that, an executive of Community Health Partners in Lorain. He has been a volunteer at the Lorain County Free Clinic since it opened in 1986, and now serves as the clinic’s medical director and on its board of directors.

Sheldon takes over one of a handful of independent health systems left in the Cleveland area. EMH also has been expanding with satellite offices around the border of Cuyahoga County.

He joins the Cleveland Clinic’s Toby Cosgrove as Northeast Ohio’s only health-system heads with MDs.