Rosecrance Announces Retirement of Longtime Leader Philip Eaton

Rosecrance Health Network on Thursday announced plans for the retirement of longtime president and CEO Philip Eaton. David Gomel, PhD, will become the company's president and chief operating officer, effective Feb. 2.

Eaton will stay on board as CEO during a transitional period. Gomel is expected to fully take over as Rosecrance’s top executive and report directly to the company’s board of directors by January 2021.

Gomel joined Rosecrance in 1993 as a counselor in adult substance use disorder treatment, and has served in a variety of roles in the ensuing years. Most recently, Gomel has been a regional president for Rosecrance.

Eaton, meanwhile, will retire after a career that saw him join Rosecrance as a social worker in 1971 and serve as the company’s top executive since 1982. He was recognized by BHE as a Behavioral Healthcare Champion at the National Conference on Addiction Disorders in 2012.

“Rosecrance has been and will always be a part of my life, my soul,” Eaton said in a news release. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to spend my career with an agency that has served tens of thousands of individuals with compassion, dignity and integrity.

“Dave Gomel is the right leader at the right time, and I have the greatest of confidence not only in him, but in his team, to write the next chapter of this incredible organization.”

Rosecrance is a not-for-profit addiction and mental health treatment provider, offering residential and outpatient services, as well as recovery living settings. The company has operations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, with 60 facilities serving nearly 50,000 individuals.