Richard J. Roche Memorial Health has announced the appointment of Richard J. Roche as its new vice president for human resources. Roche comes with more than twenty years of senior management in the healthcare industry.

“We are excited that Rick has joined us to lead our human resources initiatives. He is a seasoned executive who brings a wealth of human resources experience from teaching and research hospitals similar to Memorial,” said Phillip S. Schaengold, J.D., MBA, president and CEO of Memorial Health.

Roche most recently served as the chief human resources (HR) officer for Prexus Health Partners, a multi-state hospital development and management company located in Cincinnati. He was responsible for all HR practices and services, customer satisfaction, and compliance. Prior to that, he was the vice president for HR and ancillary services at University Health Care System in Augusta, where he provided executive leadership for human resources and several operations functions. During his career, he has also provided human resources leadership at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati and the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Prior to beginning his career in healthcare, Roche served four years in the United States Navy.

Roche earned his Master of Science in Management from Lesley University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a major in Labor Relations, from Xavier University.

Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC) is a two-state healthcare organization serving a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina. The system includes its flagship hospital, a 530-bed academic medical center; Memorial primary and specialty care physician networks; a major medical education program; business and industry services; and NurseOne, a 24-hour call center. Visit our Web site at www.memorialhealth.com.