PHOENIX — After 12 years at the helm of Maricopa County’s public health care system Valleywise Health, President and CEO Steve Purves has announced he will retire next year when his contract ends.
His October 2026 retirement will conclude a 45-year career in health care administration for Purves, who joined Valleywise in 2013 and since then led the system through a financial crisis and into a period of expansion and improvement highlighted by the opening of a new medical center, new health centers around the Phoenix metro and strengthened ties with Creighton University.
With the announcement, Valleywise said that its board of directors will commence a thorough search for his successor, “with an emphasis on stability, mission alignment and continued organizational momentum.”