Morton Plant Hospital Names New Vice President/Chief Medical Officer

CLEARWATER, Fla., April 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Morton Plant Hospital has named Dr. Robert Kopec as vice president and chief medical officer (CMO), effective March 30.

Dr. Kopec is filling the role being vacated by Dr. Jeffery Jensen, who is retiring from BayCare at the beginning of May. Dr. Kopec has been serving as CMO of Morton Plant North Bay Hospital since April 2022.

As CMO of Morton Plant Hospital, Dr. Kopec will assist the medical staff and Matt Novak, the hospital's president, in providing safe, effective medical care to the public. His responsibilities will include training new physicians in the hospital's policies and keeping staff current on health regulations. He also will provide clinical oversight to physicians, ensure regulatory compliance, evaluate quality of services and represent the hospital at BayCare and community meetings.

"BayCare's physician enterprise continues to grow at record levels. We are delighted to announce the promotion of Dr. Kopec to VP and CMO of Morton Plant Hospital," said BayCare Chief Physician Executive Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan. "He is an outstanding physician leader and has added tremendous value and service throughout his BayCare career, especially throughout the COVID years. We are excited for him to continue the momentum of leading clinical excellence and driving innovation into the new year at Morton Plant."

"At BayCare, we provide high quality patient-centered care. It's been an honor and privilege to serve for more than 13 years in various leadership roles throughout BayCare Health System," Dr. Kopec said. "I look forward to collaborating with the team at Morton Plant Hospital to achieve our shared organizational goals."

Founded in 1916 in Clearwater, Morton Plant Hospital was one of the first hospitals in Pinellas County and is known for advanced medical technologies and outstanding patient care. In 2024, the 599-bed hospital had 27,454 discharges; 2,050 births; 93, 251 emergency department visits; 14,036 outpatient surgeries; and 3,362,672 lab tests.

Dr. Kopec joined BayCare Medical Group in 2012, serving as a hospitalist at Mease Countryside and Mease Dunedin hospitals until April 2020. He previously served as the Morton Plant Mease medical director for infection prevention and control and as the lead physician adviser for clinical documentation integrity for BayCare Health System. In these roles, he led multiple efforts to improve patient outcomes and reduce clinical infections. In 2020 and 2021 as our hospitals and community were facing many unknowns in dealing with COVID-19, he collaborated with various teams throughout BayCare to ensure patients were properly diagnosed when admitted and then appropriately discharged. He also serves on the COVID-19 Medical Advisory Board for Pinellas County Schools.

Dr. Kopec received his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in 2000 and is board certified in infectious disease and internal medicine. He received his master's degree in health care administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2023.

About BayCare

BayCare is a leading not-for-profit health care system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 16 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. The system is West Central Florida's largest provider of behavioral health and pediatric services and its provider group, BayCare Medical Group, is one of the largest in the region. BayCare's diverse network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, BayCare Urgent Care locations, wellness centers and one of Florida's largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare. BayCare's mission is to improve the health of all it serves through community-owned, health care services that set the standard for high-quality, compassionate care. For more information, visit BayCare.org.

SOURCE BayCare Health System