Mayo Clinic CEO announces plans to retire

After leading the Mayo Clinic for more than seven years, Dr. Gianrico Farrugia says he’s getting ready to step down.

The president and CEO of Mayo Clinic since January 2019, Farrugia said Tuesday that he plans to retire at the end of the year. The system’s board says it has launched a process to name the next leader of the Mayo Clinic and expects to choose a successor by November, with a goal of ensuring a smooth transition.

Farrugia has overseen billions of dollars in expanding Mayo Clinic’s campuses in a campaign branded as “Bold. Forward. Unbound.” Now, Farrugia says he’s ready to step aside.

"I’m tremendously proud of how Mayo Clinic has advanced our patient-centered mission and set the standard for exceptional healthcare over the last eight years," Farrugia said in a statement accompanying his announcement.

"Serving as president and CEO has been a true privilege, and I am certain that our momentum will continue — driven as always by the commitment of our staff to discover new cures and provide more hope and healing to more patients,” he said.

In 2023, the Mayo Clinic unveiled a $5 billion plan to transform its main campus in Rochester, Minnesota. The full project is slated to be completed in 2030.

At the time, Farrugia called it “a once-in-three generations opportunity to redefine the future of healthcare." The plans call for buildings that can be revamped to adjust to changing needs.

Farrugia said that the plan goes beyond a typical construction project and is designed to blur the lines across hospital, clinic and digital care.

“It’s about an entirely different way of thinking about how we use space and understand space in healthcare,” Farrugia said in 2023. “How to build a physical infrastructure that reinforces our seamless, dynamic and self-improving platform model of care. Space that can grow. Space that can adapt to meet the changing needs of both our patients and our staff.”

Last year, the Mayo Clinic launched a $1.9 billion expansion project of its campus in Phoenix, Arizona. The project is slated to add 1.2 million square feet of space to the campus.

Mayo Clinic continues to enjoy success in securing federal research grants. The system has invested heavily in AI, notably with the Mayo Clinic Platform, which allows healthcare organizations and digital health companies to use de-identified data for research.

Even with its hefty investments in capital projects, Mayo Clinic “maintains a sound and healthy financial profile,” S&P Global Ratings said in a March 30 analysis. S&P said its strong global reputation and investments should continue to help the health system.

The Mayo Clinic has seen more success in philanthropy, with fundraising rising from $700 million in 2024 to about $953 million in 2025, S&P noted.

Richard Davis, chair of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, praised Farrugia’s leadership of the system.

"Dr. Farrugia’s tenure has helped position Mayo Clinic at the forefront of a rapidly changing healthcare landscape," Davis said in a statement.. "His leadership has strengthened our ability to innovate, collaborate and meet the evolving needs of patients around the world."

In addition to Mayo Clinic’s medical centers in Rochester, Phoenix, and Jacksonville, Florida, the organization also includes the Mayo Clinic Health System, with 16 hospitals and scores of clinics serving patients in Minnesota and Wisconsin.