A new chief financial officer will take over Tuesday at the Ohio State University Medical Center to focus the center’s growth potential.

C. Michael Rutherford, who has more than 30 years of health care experience, was hired as the medical center’s new chief financial officer in early December.

Rutherford will replace John Stone who retired last summer after being CFO at the medical center since 2005.

“The medical center now is extremely well respected in the world of health care,” Rutherford said. “The opportunity to help it grow and continue up the national rankings in the various categories is very attractive.”

Dr. Steven G. Gabbe, senior vice president of health sciences and CEO of the medical center, said Rutherford’s experience and knowledge put him at the top of the list of candidates for the CFO position.

“I think he comes to us at a very, very important time,” Gabbe said. “We have someone in Mike who has had vast experience and will be a great member of our team.”

Rutherford was most recently vice president and CFO of Summa Health System in Akron. He was also CEO and CFO of the Sisters of Charity Health System in Cleveland and has held other positions with health organizations.

“Michael has been an accomplished and solid performer at every stop in his career,” said Peter Geier, CEO of the Ohio State University Health System, in a press release on Dec. 8.

“We are extremely happy to have been able to attract someone of his caliber to the university.”

Rutherford will be responsible for the financial operations of the medical center and expected growth in patient volume. He will also assist the oversight and financial management of other projects, including ProjectONE, the medical center’s $1 billion expansion project.

“I think that I can help identify and prioritize some of the growth opportunities that the medical center may have,” Rutherford said. “I’m looking forward to learning as much as I am contributing. This is a phenomenal organization and it’s filled with incredibly bright people.”

Rutherford was born in Huntington, W. Va., and graduated from West Virginia University in 1979 with a master’s and bachelor’s (cum laude) in business. Rutherford has four children with his wife, Debbie, who is an OSU graduate.

Rutherford started working in health care after he finished graduate school in 1980. Helping people was a reason for him getting into and remaining in the field, he said.

“I had a very good professor who was giving us a little bit of advice in terms of what to do with the rest of our lives,” Rutherford said. “(The professor) said that health care was one of the few areas where you can make a difference. You can go in and help people. At the end of the day, it’s all about improving the health status of individuals and the population you serve.”