Columbus Regional Health announced Thursday that Steve Baker has stepped down as the organization’s president and chief executive officer effective immediately after assuming both roles a little over four months ago.
Former CRH President and CEO Jim Bickel has returned from retirement to assume the role of interim president and chief executive officer through the rest of the year and into 2026 as needed while the organization’s board of trustees finalizes a plan to find a successor.
Currently, it is unclear why Baker suddenly departed the organization. Baker assumed the role of president and CEO on April 1. Before that, Baker had served as CRH president as part of a succession plan after Bickel announced plans to retire last year.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are confident in the future of Columbus Regional Health and are committed to a smooth transition,” CRH Board Chair Don Michael said in a statement. “With his many proven years of exceptional leadership and dedication to CRH and his continued ties to the organization, Jim Bickel with the support of the board and senior leadership, will provide a stable foundation to fulfill this organization’s commitment to the community we serve, and our mission as a local, independent healthcare system.”
Bickel retired earlier this year after 17 years as the hospital system’s chief executive and a 35-year career at CRH. He was previously expected to continue serving part-time as a strategy advisor to the CRH Board of Trustees and executive leadership throughout the rest of 2025.
“First and foremost, I want reinforce my personal commitment to upholding Columbus Regional Health’s mission, vision, values and culture,” Bickel said in a statement. “I have served CRH proudly for 35 years and can personally attest to the positive impact our workforce and the culture within this organization has on the patients and the community we serve. I look forward to leading and supporting this great organization during this time of transition.”
An Indiana native, Baker initially joined CRH in 1998 as director of information services after serving nearly a decade in the U.S. Air Force, according to CRH.
Baker would take on other roles at CRH, including manager of technical services and later director of technical services before leaving the hospital system in 2010 to join UK Healthcare in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2012, Baker joined East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La., as chief information officer.
Two year later, Baker joined IU Health as executive director of IS infrastructure before returning to CRH in 2016 as vice president and chief technology and information officer.
In 2020, Baker became vice president and chief administrative officer at CRH before taking on the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer two years later.
Baker also serves on the Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation Board and the Ascension Rural Healthcare Board. He and his wife, Deanna, have two adult children.
Baker told The Republic last year that he is looking forward to the new role and plans to “continue to execute our strategic plan as we have it set forth and really drive (CRH) into the future.”
For Bickel, this will be the second time that he has served as CRH’s interim CEO. He was initially appointed as interim CEO in July 2007 after a candidate who was offered the chief executive role at CRH backed out just days before he was supposed to start.
In August 2007, the CRH board named Bickel as the hospital system’s permanent CEO, with Bickel saying at the time, “I’m very honored and pleased to be given this opportunity by the board and given the chance to more the organization forward and continue on the path we are.”
Bickel would go on to lead CRH through two of the largest challenges that the hospital system has endured over the course of its history — the COVID-19 pandemic and the catastrophic 2008 flood that prompted staff and the Indiana National Guard to scramble to evacuate 157 patients and temporarily forced the hospital to close its doors while officials renovated and repaired the basement and first floor of the hospital.
He also would spearhead plans to develop a new hospital campus on Columbus’ west side and enter into a joint venture with the city of Columbus to transform the former FairOaks Mall into a health, wellness and recreation center now known as NexusPark.
