Amir Dan Rubin is set to become president and chief executive of Stanford Hospital & Clinics on Jan. 3, the hospital board of directors announced on Friday.

Rubin, the chief operating officer of the UCLA Health System in Los Angeles, succeeds Martha Marsh, who announced in February she would retire after eight years as Stanford Hospitals CEO.

He joins Stanford in the midst of a multi-billion dollar hospital expansion project, which is still in the approval process at Palo Alto City Hall. Stanford expects approval of a new $2 billion inpatient facility by the city in 2011; an environmental impact report for the entire project went before the city council in May and has been the basis of some concern in Palo Alto over the traffic impacts of the project.

Board chair Mariann Byerwalter lauded Rubin in a statement as an “outstanding executive to lead Stanford Hospital at this transformative time in our history.”

Rubin, a Los Angeles native, graduated from UC-Berkeley and holds two master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. He joined the UCLA Health System in 2005 and has been involved in four hospital projects, including the $1.5 billion UCLA medical center, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reported.

“Stanford has the ability to change the face of health care,” Rubin said in a statement. “To be part of an organization that can have such a broad impact on humanity is unique and truly inspiring.”

— Elizabeth Titus