New London ― Patrick Green, president and chief executive officer of Lawrence + Memorial Healthcare, which includes L+M and Westerly hospitals, will become CEO of University of Florida Health Jacksonville, a regional health center in Florida, the Yale New Haven Health System announced Wednesday.

Green’s last day with L+M Healthcare will be July 7.

Green, an executive vice president of Yale New Haven Health, joined L+M Healthcare in the summer of 2017, less than a year after it affiliated with Yale New Haven Health.

“He immediately helped stabilize Lawrence + Memorial and Westerly hospitals, while thoughtfully and strategically integrating LMH culture and clinical programs with YNHHS,” Pamela Sutton-Wallace, Yale New Haven Health’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, wrote in a memorandum addressed to L+M Healthcare employees.

Sutton-Wallace credited Green with recruiting “key Yale School of Medicine physicians” and partnering LMH with nonprofit and government agencies to address health disparities and economic opportunities in the area.

“He has been innovative, building strong relationships with both Tribal Nations in eastern Connecticut and allowing YNHHS to offer important healthcare services to its members,” Sutton-Wallace wrote.

Tony Sheridan, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, whose board of directors Green serves as a vice chairman, said he was sorry to learn Green will be relocating.

“Patrick’s always been a straight-up kind of fellow with a keen interest in the community,” Sheridan said.

Green was unavailable to comment Wednesday.

In Florida, Green will lead a regional health center that includes a 695-bed academic teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Dr. David R. Nelson, senior vice president for health affairs at the University of Florida and president of University of Florida Health, described Green as “a dynamic leader and change agent with a wide breadth of experience in health care.” In a press release, he said Green’s “leadership skills and strong business acumen” would help University of Florida Health Jacksonville deliver high-quality care to patients throughout the region it serves.

Ben Sasse, the former U.S. senator from Nebraska who became president of the University of Florida in February, also praised Green.

“UF Health Jacksonville is a vital piece of our academic health center’s statewide footprint, and having strong, competent leadership at the helm there is critical,” he said. “Patrick’s stellar experience in the health care industry will no doubt help ensure we deliver on our promise of providing UF Health Jacksonville patients with the best possible life-changing, compassionate care, and his proven ability to bring about first-class financial returns will help propel the system forward …"

Before joining Yale New Haven Health, Green served as interim president at Centura Health in Lakewood, Colo., after holding roles as senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer, and as chief operating officer. Earlier in his career, he served as associate chief operating officer at Denver Health and worked at University of Washington Medicine in Seattle.

In the past year, L+M Hospital management engaged in protracted contract negotiations with labor unions. Late last year, it reached an impasse with the union representing some 900 of its health care workers, leading union members to picket outside the hospital this past January.

At the time, Green took what he called “the unprecedented step” of implementing the terms of the last offer management made prior to the impasse. He said the offer was similar to packages ratified in December by two other L+M unions representing nurses and medical technologists.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com