[image-1]The Cleveland Clinic announced that Dr. Tomislav “Tom” Mihaljevic will take over as CEO when Toby Cosgrove departs on Jan. 1.

Mihaljevic is a well regarded heart surgeon, and he has been serving as CEO of the Clinic’s Abu Dhabi system for the past two years.

“Dr. Mihaljevic brings a depth of experience, first as an innovative, world-class surgeon and more recently as a hospital executive focused on healthcare quality and safety, patient experience and business strategy,” Robert E. Rich Jr., chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Board of Directors, said in a public statement today.

Cosgrove served as CEO for 13 years before announcing his exit back in May. He’ll remain with the Clinic in an as-yet-undefined advisory role.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.