Former longtime hospital system CEO to join local foundation board

Former Atrium Health CEO Michael Tarwater will be a senior adviser and board member of the nonprofit The Leon Levine Foundation, starting next year.

Tarwater spent 14 years as Atrium’s CEO, and a total of 35 years at the hospital system, which was then Carolinas HealthCare System. During that time, the nonprofit health care system ballooned from 5,700 employees to 60,000 across 40 hospitals and 900 health care locations, The Observer reported in 2015.

“His vast business experience and expertise in healthcare and community initiatives will help us immeasurably as we continue to grow in Charlotte and other regions of the Carolinas,” Leon Levine, the founder of the first Family Dollar, said in a news release.

The Leon Levine Foundation gives grants to organizations with missions related to health care, education, Jewish values and human services.