Long-serving Netcare CEO Richard Friedland, who was due to retire shortly, has had his contract extended again after a selected candidate identified for his position pulled out at the 11th hour.
In a statement accompanying the results of its latest AGM on Friday, Netcare told shareholders that the candidate had recently informed its board of “certain unforeseen contractual obligations” preventing them from assuming the role of CEO within the agreed time frame.
Friedland has accepted the board’s request to continue serving as CEO until September 2026.
Business Day reports that in July 2023, Friedland had announced he would step down from the role by the end of September 2024, but his effective retirement date was postponed by six months after his replacement was reportedly unavailable for an extended period.
Friedland has been at the company, valued at about R19.5bn on the JSE, for three decades, and has served as CEO for 18 years, during which he guided it through the construction of five new flagship hospitals.
The group operates 49 acute hospitals and 14 mental health hospitals, and reported profit after tax and exceptional items of R1.5bn in the year to end-September 2024, when its capital expenditure came to R1.5bn.
BusinessLIVE article – Netcare CEO delays retirement again (Restricted access)
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Netcare CEO delays retirement for six months