BL Premium reports that private hospital group Netcare announced that it has extended CEO Richard Friedland’s contract after the candidate it had identified for the role pulled out at the last minute.

In a statement accompanying the results of its latest AGM on Friday, Netcare told shareholders that the selected candidate recently informed its board of “certain unforeseen contractual obligations” preventing the candidate from assuming the role of CEO within the agreed time frame. As a result, it said Friedland had accepted the board’s request to continue serving as CEO until September 2026, so delaying his retirement further and prolonging the group’s hunt for new leadership. In July 2023, Friedland announced that he would step down from the role by the end of September last year, but his effective retirement date was postponed by six months after his replacement was reportedly unavailable for an extended period. With the group returning to the recruitment drawing board again, Netcare said its board “remains committed to the CEO succession planning process and will continue working towards identifying a suitable candidate to ensure a smooth and strategic transition”.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jacob Webster at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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