Former Sarasota Memorial CEO, physician leader dies at 85

Dr. G. Duncan Finlay, CEO of Sarasota Memorial Hospital for five years and a longtime prominent physician and leader in town, died Friday. Finlay was 85.

Finlay died at SMH’s Rehabilitation Pavilion, “surrounded by the care of the dedicated staff at the institution he had led with vision, expertise and compassion,” according to a statement from the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. 

Courtesy image

Finlay’s tenure as CEO, 2000-2005, coincided with the first of several population surges in the Greater Sarasota area over the past 25 years. He also took on the CEO and president role — after previously serving as vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer — during a time when SMH had gone through a period of turmoil and change, officials say. Finlay, described by the hospital as “a tireless champion of medical advances and innovative technology,” led SMH to several big achievements, including: 

• Won the Governor’s Sterling Award for organizational performance in 2001
• Won its first Magnet Nursing Designation (the nation’s highest honor for nursing excellence) in 2003
• Won its first recognition from U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Hospitals.
• Microsoft named SMH “Hospital of the Year” in 2004 for its early efforts to adopt electronic health records and computerized physician order entry 

“Dr. Finlay was a brilliant star in our health system and community for more than three decades,” Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder says in the release. “He was a wonderful mentor and friend to so many of us. We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the major role he played in SMH’s history.”

SMH officials say beyond the accolades, Finlay was a champion of building relationships and raising the standards for customer service. “Dr. Finlay was an outstanding physician and leader,” SMH Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Fiorica says in the statement. “He led with kindness and conviction. His commitment to always doing what was best for patients, physicians and staff continues to guide us to this day.”

A pulmonologist, Finlay joined SMH in 1972. He was promoted to chief of staff in the 1980s, and then later took on other leadership roles. After his 2005 retirement, Finlay took on some other roles, in health care and the community at large. He ran the F.A.R. Institute, created to apply innovative analytic tools and expertise to improve healthcare delivery, and served on the board of trustees for the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation. He also supported the annual G. Duncan Finlay Health Careers Scholarship program and was a trustee and chairman of the board of Sarasota senior living community Plymouth Harbor. 

SMH was founded in 1925. Today the organization has some 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and handles nearly two million patient visits a year across its network.