Andy Davis, the president of Carney Hospital, is resigning from his post at Dorchester’s only hospital, the Reporter has learned. The move comes as Carney – which is owned by the Steward Health Care Network – prepares to absorb new patients and staff from Quincy Medical Center, which has been shut down by Steward.

Davis circulated an e-mail to hospital staff announcing the decision on Tuesday afternoon. “After much consideration, I have decided to step down as president of Carney Hospital. I have been considering this step for some time and I have been in discussions with the Steward team so that the transition is least disruptive,” Davis wrote. “As Carney welcomes the Quincy community both of us feel the time is ideal for this transition. I remain committed to Carney and I will continue to serve as president while the search for a new president is conducted.”

Davis also wrote: “Carney Hospital has made important strides in recent years – earning top quality honors, opening new state-of-the-art operating rooms, expanding the family medicine and residency program and providing access to a growing number of high-quality PCPs and specialists. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and I appreciate all of your hard work.”

Davis, who could not be reached for comment this week, is the fourth person to serve as Carney’s president since Steward took ownership of the hospital. He was hired in the summer of 2012 to succeed Bill Walczak, the longtime director of Codman Square Health Center. Walczak served for about one year as Carney’s president after Steward took over the operation in 2010.

“Andy Davis is a terrific individual, very professional and I am sad to learn he will leave Dorchester,” said Jim Hunt II, a member of the Carney Advisory Board and president of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “He worked very hard to reach out to the community all across the neighborhoods; I have the highest regard for him.”

Quincy Medical Center halted operations on Dec. 26. Steward maintains a satellite emergency facility at the same location, but no longer operates there as an inpatient hospital. The emergency facility, which Steward plans to keep open until Dec. 31 of this year through Carney Hospital’s license, will have emergency room physicians and nurses, with CT scans and ultrasound, and pharmacy and laboratory services. A free shuttle will run between the Quincy facility and the Carney.

Material from State House News Service was included in this report.