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Hospital Appoints New Leader

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By DAVE NICHOLSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

PLANT CITY - A 1991 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and veteran hospital administrator will take the helm of South Florida Baptist Hospital in October.

The hospital announced Tuesday the appointment of Stephen A. Nierman as the new chief operating officer of the 147-bed hospital. He was appointed after a nationwide search to replace Bill Ulbricht, who left in April.

Nierman, 39, is chief operating officer at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Hernando County. Previously, he was chief operating officer of Memorial Hospital of Tampa.

He also worked in other positions in the hospital field, including with Humana.

Ulbricht, a longtime community leader, left to become president of St. Anthony's Health Care in St. Petersburg, which is part of the nonprofit BayCare Health System. That group also includes South Florida Baptist and St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

Nierman, who plans to relocate to Plant City, said he looks forward to his new position and becoming a part of the community.

Like Ulbricht, Nierman said he will be active in the community, as he has been in Spring Hill. He was chief operating officer at the 124-bed Spring Hill hospital for nearly two years.

His first day at South Florida Baptist is Oct. 8.

'I'm excited about leading South Florida Baptist Hospital as COO (chief operating officer). We will continue to focus on the core elements of the hospital's mission statement - compassionate care, high quality and meeting the health care needs of the community,' Nierman said in a statement from South Florida Baptist.
Nierman received a bachelor's degree in engineering math-science from the Air Force Academy. His military career included active duty overseas and an assignment to the 6th Medical Support Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base while in the Air Force Reserve. He achieved the rank of major. He left the reserves in 2003.

He has a master of aeronautical science degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Ulbricht was at South Florida Baptist for 12 years, including 10 years as its chief operating officer. He left weeks after the nation's leading hospital-accrediting agency gave the facility top marks in caring for patients with heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.

South Florida Baptist was the only hospital in the Tampa Bay area that performed above the national average in all three categories, according to The Joint Commission.

Reporter Dave Nicholson can be reached at (813) 865-4432 or dnicholson@tampatrib.com.

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