PACS names Murphy CLO as Mitchell retires under Transition Agreement

PACS Group, Inc. (NYSE: PACS) said Chief Legal Officer and Secretary John Mitchell retired effective September 18, 2026 under a filed Transition and Release Agreement, and that Patrick J. Murphy succeeded him as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary effective September 21, 2026.

PACS Group used a Form 8-K to document a Chief Legal Officer handoff: the long-serving CLO retired under a filed transition agreement, and a healthcare litigation veteran started as successor three days later.

Mitchell retires Sept. 18 under Transition Agreement

Under Item 5.02, PACS Group, Inc. said that on September 18, 2026 it entered a Transition and Release Agreement with John Mitchell in connection with his retirement as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, effective that same Separation Date. After leaving the officer roles, Mitchell will provide transition consulting as a non-employee consultant for up to 12 months.

Subject to a release of claims and continued compliance with restrictive covenants, Mitchell will receive 12 months of base salary continuation, and PACS agreed to subsidize his COBRA premiums for 12 months from the Separation Date or, if later, through the end of the consulting period. On the Separation Date he also receives accelerated vesting of the portion of outstanding restricted stock units that would have vested over the next 12 months, with remaining unvested RSUs continuing to vest in equal quarterly installments over the consulting period if he keeps serving. Units still unvested when consulting ends would be forfeited, and shares delivered during consulting face daily and monthly transfer limits. Item 5.02 points readers to Exhibit 10.1 for the full agreement text.

Murphy appointed CLO effective Sept. 21

Item 7.01 (Regulation FD) says that on September 21, 2026 PACS issued a press release naming Patrick J. Murphy as Mitchell’s successor as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, effective September 21, 2026. Exhibit 99.1 is furnished with that item and is not deemed “filed” for Exchange Act Section 18 purposes except where expressly incorporated.

The September 21 press release restates Mitchell’s Sept. 18 retirement from CLO and Corporate Secretary and his continuing consultant role, and states Murphy will oversee PACS’s legal function. CEO and Chairman Jason Murray is quoted on Mitchell’s service since joining in 2017 — including IPO support — and on Murphy’s mix of healthcare, corporate, regulatory, and public-sector experience. Murphy joins from King & Spalding’s Special Matters Practice Group; Ex99.1 also cites roughly two decades at General Electric (including nearly 15 years as Global Chief Litigation Counsel for GE Healthcare), later Senior Vice President Legal and Global Chief Litigation Counsel at Fresenius Medical Care, Senate Judiciary Committee and FBI counsel roles, and earlier service as a U.S. Marine Corps Judge Advocate who attained the rank of Major.

Company snapshot and filing mechanics

Ex99.1’s company description says PACS’s independent subsidiaries operate 355 post-acute care facilities across 20 states serving more than 33,400 patients daily — background scale, not a new deal metric. Item 9.01 lists Exhibit 10.1 (Transition and Release Agreement dated September 18, 2026), Exhibit 99.1 (press release dated September 21, 2026, furnished), and Exhibit 104. The Form 8-K is signed by Jason Murray as Director, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, dated September 21, 2026. PACS common stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol PACS; principal offices are in Salt Lake City.

What this filing settles — and what it leaves open

Item 5.02 and Exhibit 10.1 lock Mitchell’s Separation Date, the up-to-12-month consulting frame, salary continuation, COBRA subsidy, and RSU acceleration/continued-vesting mechanics summarized above. Item 7.01 and Exhibit 99.1 lock Murphy’s Sept. 21 CLO/Corporate Secretary start and the furnished background narrative. This Form 8-K does not disclose Mitchell’s numeric base-salary rate, Murphy’s compensatory arrangements, or a separate consulting dollar fee beyond the Item 5.02 summary.