(Columbia, South Carolina – March 2025) William Kenley, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AnMed, has been named the 2025 Chair of the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA). In this role, he will lead efforts to facilitate statewide collaboration among the state’s hospital community, advance improvements in patient care and access, and develop the health care workforce for South Carolina’s growing population.
Kenley was named the CEO of AnMed in August 2020 and made an immediate impact helping guide his community through the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 35 years of health care experience, he previously held various leadership roles, including executive vice president, at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis Tennessee since 2004.
Since arriving at AnMed, Kenley has led a $50 million project to enhance outpatient capacity. Expanded emergency services, imaging, laboratory, physical therapy and physician offices for primary care, orthopedics, cardiology, maternity, pediatrics, pulmonology and more are included in the health system’s newest campus, AnMed Piedmont. That campus will open this spring in one of the Upstate’s fastest growing areas.
AnMed has provided health care for residents in the Upstate and northeast Georgia for more than a century. Founded in 1908, AnMed is an independent, not-for-profit health system with 620 physicians on medical staff and about 3,600 employees.
In 2024, AnMed received the American Hospital Association’s 2024 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award for implementing language services and community engagement strategies to eliminate health care disparities and improve patient outcomes. Becker’s Hospital Review named Kenley as one of the 160 community hospital CEOs to know in 2024 and included AnMed as the only Upstate health system among the nation’s 153 Great Community Hospitals in 2023.
“William is a proven leader who brings a wealth of experience to the SCHA Board and an attitude that puts patients first,” said SCHA CEO Thornton Kirby. “He has made an impact from the moment he joined AnMed, and we are grateful to have him leading South Carolina to a better state of health in 2025.”
Kenley was appointed Chair of SCHA at its annual meeting last month. He has served on the SCHA Board since 2021 and chaired the SCHA Upstate Regional Leadership Council from 2022 to 2025. He has a Master of Public Health Administration degree from Duke University and received his undergraduate degree from Radford University.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to lead collaboration among the hospitals and health systems across our great state,” Kenley said. “As the health care landscape continues to evolve, I’m looking forward to serving SCHA and my fellow board members in the continuous pursuit of better health in South Carolina.”
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About the South Carolina Hospital Association
SCHA is committed to making South Carolina one of the nation’s healthiest states by helping our hospitals and health systems provide the best care possible. We advocate for sound healthcare policies and legislation, facilitate collaboration to tackle problems that none of us could solve alone, find and share innovations and best practices, and provide data, education, and business solutions to help our members better serve their patients and communities. Together, we are leading South Carolina to a better state of health. Learn more about SCHA at www.scha.org.
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