CEO of Nevada Cancer Institute resigns
Dr. John C. Ruckdeschel, director and CEO of the Nevada Cancer Institute, has stepped down from the post less than two years after taking the helm.
The nonprofit organization made the announcement through a Friday press release announcing Ruckdeschel’s interim replacement. Dr. Phillip J. Manno, who is chief of clinical oncology and hematology services at the institute, takes over immediately.
The announcement did not state the reason for Ruckdeschel’s departure. Spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said the institute’s board made the decision.
“The board determined that a change in leadership was in the best interest of the institute and its patients,” Grey said. She declined to elaborate.
The economic downturn has hit the institute hard, and last month its board announced that it was laying off 30 members of its support staff in the coming weeks. In 2008 the institute announced the layoff of 50 employees.
Ruckdeschel, who took the helm of the institute in July 2009, was only its second director. He replaced Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang, who stepped down to be an oncologist with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada.