Sutter Health CIO steps down

The San Francisco Business Times reported yesterday that John Hummel (pictured at left) is leaving his post as CIO of Sutter Health to join Perot Systems.  Hummel, who’s 52, has worked for Sutter since 1998.  He made his move in order to spend more time with his vivacious wife of 30+ years, Ruth Ann, and his five adult children and five grandchildren.  Hummel, whom I interviewed for a profile that ran in the May 1, 2005 issue, has functioned as a workaholic for most (if not all) of his career.  While working for Sutter, he told me he lived out of hotels two to three days a week in order to cut down on the amount of Bay area traffic he would otherwise have to battle. 

Having met this down-to-earth and accomplished IT executive first hand, I can say that Hummel’s move is a great loss for Sutter and a valuable gain for Perot.  After all, How could you not like a guy who wears Donald Duck neckties?