Covenant Health Names Connie Martin to be New Chief Administrative Officer at Fort Loudoun Medical Center

Covenant Health has announced that Connie Martin, vice president and chief support officer at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, will be president and chief administrative officer at Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, effective April 4, 2022.

“The opportunity to work with the strong and patient-focused team at Fort Loudoun Medical Center is inspiring,” Martin said. “The clinical and support staff as well as the medical staff are incredibly gifted, and this collaborative team has a track record of providing outstanding care for the community. I look forward to supporting and guiding the team, as well as being an active community partner.”  

Martin will succeed Fort Loudoun’s current CAO, Jeffrey Feike, who will retire at the end of March. “I’m honored to have been given the opportunity to be a part of Covenant Health, and to have worked with some of the most talented people in the country to help make a difference for our patients and for the community,” Feike said.

Martin’s transition will return her to the area where she began her career in 1982 as laboratory manager of what was then Loudon County Hospital (later Fort Sanders Loudon Medical Center).  In 1991, she began working in Cleveland and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in a variety of hospital leadership roles with Bradley Memorial Hospital and Memorial Health System.

Martin returned to a new Fort Loudoun Medical Center facility in 2004 as director of support services and laboratory, where she directed operations for services including laboratory, imaging, therapy services, food services, environmental services, engineering and facility services. She was integral in the expansion of laboratory space to enable improved efficiency subsequent to opening the new hospital, and functioned regularly as a clinical laboratory scientist with expertise in every laboratory specialty. 

In 2009, Martin was named vice president and chief support officer at Methodist Medical Center and has spent the past 13 years overseeing the operations of cardiac services, oncology services, laboratory, imaging and food & nutrition services. 

“Having worked closely with Connie for over 14 years, I can tell you she has an unparalleled work ethic with an unwavering commitment to quality, service and most importantly, our patients,” said Mike Belbeck, Covenant Health’s executive vice president of operations. “She is an individual with a servant heart who leads with integrity and compassion. I look forward to our continued work together as she moves into her new role.”

“Methodist Medical Center is known in our community for offering advanced medical care in a compassionate setting. The positive impact Connie has made at MMC is evident throughout our hospital,” said Jeremy Biggs, president and CAO of Methodist Medical Center. “Her clinical and operations expertise, her outstanding leadership, and her dedication to our staff and patients inspire excellence every day.”

Licensed as a medical laboratory supervisor, Martin holds a bachelor of science degree in medical technology from Tennessee Wesleyan College and a master of science in health systems from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the East Tennessee Healthcare Executive Affiliation.