Health District Search Begins For New CEO

DAYTON - Columbia County Health Systems Chair Ted Paterson fully expected the hospital board's retreat this Thursday to be about budgets, the recent rural hospital conference in Spokane and .CEO Charlie Button's contract renewal.

But Paterson and other board members set the retreat agenda before Button resigned from his post on March 10, so now the five-member body that governs the public health district for Dayton and Waitsburg will have a new priority to discuss: finding Button's replacement.

"It's not going to happen overnight," said Patterson, who joined the board after Button was hired. "It's a process."

Hiring a new leader for the district, a small publicly funded rural health system whose own health has been buffeted by state budget cuts, patient payment backlogs and internal management challenges during the past few years, is no small task. It may be even more daunting this time since not everyone was happy about the recruitment process when Button was hired four years ago.

"We were a stepping stone," newly elected board member Colleen Sproul said about Button's recruitment as a lower level financial executive whom she said grew into his position as a top administrator mostly on the job and lacks the medical background to be as effective as someone who has that experience. "We have to have someone who knows what they're doing (from the get go)."

Button's departure isn't necessarily atypical. On average, 16 percent of health service organization executives leave their position each year, having served fewer than six years, according to the Washington State Hospital Association.

The position is one of the most important executive appointments in the Touchet Valley because the health district is the largest permanent employer here (Ski Bluewood is bigger on a seasonal basis) and many local residents use its services at one time or another.

Paterson said board members will devote at least an hour at the retreat to try and decide on the best process to attract and screen candidates. Any action concerning the recruitment process may follow later in the day when the board holds its public meeting at 6 p.m. at the administration building's meeting room.

The district's bylaws give sparse guidance on the steps board members should follow in their recruitment of a CEO, simply assigning the trustees the responsibility of selecting one .

Board member Jim Kime, also elected since Button was hired, said there are several options. The board can appoint an interim CEO while conducting a wide search for Button's replacement, it can retain a head hunter to aid in the search or it can reach out through the web and in personal ways to identify potential candidates.

Barely a week into the search, the board members who attended the Spokane conference already got the word out in the industry that Columbia County Health Systems is looking.

Last time, the district used a recruitment firm, but Sproul said that's expensive and with some time commitment the board can easily lead the recruitment effort itself. That would give members a chance to be more deeply involved in the vetting process.

Last time, the head hunter presented the board with three finalists who were interviewed and paraded in front of staff and the public, but some observers said not all references were checked properly as part of the screening process or it may have highlighted some of Button's weaknesses alongside his strengths. Two of the board members in office at the time and still on the board now, Jack Otterson and Lisa Naylor, were contacted for this story but could not be reached. The other board members at the time of Button's hiring were Norm Passmore, Blaine Bickelhaupt and Roland Sherman.

Button was a chief financial officer at a larger hospital in Wisconsin when he became a finalist for the CEO position here.

He was recently offered a job as administrator at a larger hospital out of state. Last week, Button said the identity of his new employer has not been disclosed because that institution had not yet announced its hiring decision.

The departing CEO said his decision to leave the district had nothing to do with the controversy his management style allegedly ignited two years ago, saying he wasn't looking for a new position but couldn't pass up the offer he received.

Paterson said Thursday's meeting will include a review of the last recruitment effort "good and bad."

He said he's not sure if the board will make a decision on the best recruitment approach, but said he sees no need to change the bylaws in a way that offers current and future board members more guidance in their search.

The district has neither a current job description nor a CEO succession plan.

Last time, medical staff was asked for input and the finalists were introduced to the public. Some observers have suggested the board go a step further and create a special broad-based hiring committee whose members would include more than just trustees. Setting up a search committee is a step generally recommended by the Washington State Hospital Association, which also advises districts to create a CEO succession plan.

Julia Mead, former head of clinical nursing at the district who was fired by Button two years ago and escorted off the premises, said she hopes the board will open up the recruitment process so staff, patients and the community can be more involved with the selection.

"Maybe the board will have more of an ear now," she said. "Perhaps they can relax and listen to the voters."

New to the hospital recruitment process but not to recruitment in general, Patterson said reference calls, background checks and local public review are typically part of a selection process.

He said his goal as chair is to find "a well-qualified CEO to run the hospital system to serve the community and keep it alive. It's wide open."