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Coleen Santa Ana, who had served as president of Sentara Obici Hospital for less than two years, has resigned.

In a statement Friday, Sentara Healthcare spokesman Dale Gauding said Santa Ana had stepped down, and Amy Black will become the interim president.

Black, the chief operating operator of Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, served in the same role following the retirement of Dr. Steve Julian in April 2019. Santa Ana became president at Sentara Obici that September.

“Ms. Black is familiar with Sentara Obici Hospital through a previous interim appointment, and as such, this leadership transition will not affect the exceptional care and services offered to those we serve. An executive search for a permanent replacement will begin promptly.”

Santa Ana’s departure comes as the hospital has been expanding its emergency department and working through the coronavirus pandemic. She was also in charge of the Sentara BelleHarbour campus in North Suffolk, and Sentara St. Luke’s, an outpatient campus in Isle of Wight County.

Santa Ana came to Suffolk after serving for five years as president of Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City, N.C. A news release at the time touted her and her leadership team there with turning around the then-struggling hospital that Sentara took over under a lease from Pasquotank County in March 2014.

She had also served as a senior strategist with Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, and had executive leadership roles with health systems in Colorado and Nevada before returning to Sentara, where she began her career as an administrative resident in 2003. She had also received Modern Healthcare’s “Up and Comers Award.”