UM UCH president/CEO Sheldon to retire

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University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH) President and CEO Lyle E. Sheldon, FACHE, announced Tuesday he will retire in December after 34 years with the health system, including 26 as its executive leader.

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and the UM UCH Board of Directors will immediately begin a selection process to choose Sheldon’s replacement.

A native New Yorker, Sheldon joined UM UCH in 1987 as senior vice president/chief operating officer for Fallston General Hospital. In 1995, Sheldon moved into the role of president/CEO for Upper Chesapeake Health System, which included Fallston General Hospital, Harford Memorial Hospital, Upper Chesapeake Home Care, Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation, Upper Chesapeake Management Services Organization and Landmark Medical Group, an employed physician group.

In 2000, under Sheldon’s leadership, Fallston General Hospital transitioned care to a new modern medical campus, Upper Chesapeake Medical Center (UCMC) in Bel Air. At that time, UCH included two acute care hospitals; UCMC with 183 acute care beds and Harford Memorial Hospital, an 84-bed acute care hospital in Havre de Grace caring for the community for almost a century, as well as Upper Chesapeake Medical Services, Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation and HealthLink Community Health Programs.

In 2008, Sheldon pursued a joint venture agreement with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), culminating in a full merger in 2013, which allowed for additional health care services to be available locally for Harford County residents.

An example is the Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center, which brought academic state-of-the-art cancer care to the region by collaborating with the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center. Another unique service offering developed under Sheldon’s leadership is the Senator Bob Hooper House, an assisted living facility specializing in hospice care, which opened in 2011, supported by $5 million of philanthropic support.

Sheldon also led the innovative public/private partnership work that resulted in the 2019 opening of the Klein Family Harford Crisis Center in Bel Air. With the shared resources from Harford County Government, Harford County Health Department, Office on Mental Health and Healthy Harford/Healthy Cecil, the crisis center provides behavioral health and addiction services to adults. It is the first-of-its-kind center in Maryland to focus on the common dual-diagnosis of mental illness and addiction.

Sheldon and his leadership team partnered with the Harford County community seeking philanthropic support for the Kaufman Cancer Center, raising over $19 million. Since the move to the Bel Air campus, philanthropy became a key component to UM UCH’s strategic priorities.  To date, Sheldon and team have raised $17.3 million toward a $20 million goal for the “Your Health. Our Mission. Caring for our Families Together” campaign. Key areas of focus include strengthening services through integrated programs and technology and continuing to improve access and coordination of mental health services throughout the region.

Under Sheldon’s leadership, UM UCH has not only greatly expanded its health care services, but has implemented programs to improve quality, safety, efficiency and compassionate care across the service line areas both inside the hospitals and in outpatient settings.

The Maryland Patient Safety Center, the American Heart Association, Joint Commission, Delmarva Foundation American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Cancer Society have all recognized both UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and UM Harford Memorial Hospital for its patient safety and quality efforts.