Oct. 20—TIFTON — Southwell has announced that James "Jamey" Pennington is the health care system's new vice president and chief information officer.

"Jamey will direct the planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of our business operations," Troy Brooks, Southwell's senior vice president and chief financial officer, said in a news release. "Jamey will provide administrative oversight of IT infrastructure, IT security, applications, informatics, telecommunications and project management. He will serve as our system's HIPAA security officer and as chair of the MIS Steering Committee."

Pennington brings more than 26 years of IT management experience to Southwell. He has served in IT leadership roles at companies such as GoodLooking Software, based in Austin, Texas, and AllScripts, based in Chicago. He also has served in senior leadership roles at health care institutions such as JPS Health Network in Ft. Worth, Texas, Blue Ridge Healthcare in Morganton, N.C., and Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, Ark.

Pennington most recently served as an IT consultant with Coker Group Holdings, based out of Alpharetta, providing CIO and project management support for clients.

He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Pennington is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium.

"We are pleased that Jamey has joined out team, armed with the skills, training, and leadership experience needed in this role," Brooks said. "As technology becomes more sophisticated and expands, the role of the CIO is as important now as ever for health care systems."

Southwell includes Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Southwell Medical and Southwell Health and Rehabilitation in Adel, and more than 35 outpatient centers and clinics in the region.