CCHS Prepares for Management Changes

DAYTON - John Smiley, a retired hospital admin­istrator from Prosser, has begun work as part-time interim CEO at Columbia County Health System in Dayton. He takes over for Dale Polla, who agreed to resign August 1 after less than a year on the job.

Smiley spent about six months as CCHS's interim CEO in 2012, after the de­parture of Charlie Button and prior to Polla's hiring.

"Smiley is highly re­spected in the state," said CCHS board chair Lisa Naylor in an interview. "He knows everybody and he'll be very helpful in our transition."

Naylor said that the board has not yet put a plan in place to begin the search for Polla's permanent re­placement. "Right now we're focused on hiring a new CFO (chief financial officer) and a new provider (physician)," she said. "It's important that we get a new doctor on board. With­out docs, we can't make money."

Naylor also said that the list of CFO candidates to replace the recently de­parted John Hennessey has been narrowed to five can­didates and that interviews have been conducted. She expects an offer to be made to the selected candidate within a week.

Smiley will lead the re­cruiting for a new physi­cian, Naylor said. She said she hopes the new doctor will be on board by the end of the year.

Community involve­ment will be an important part of the selection process for the new CEO, Naylor stressed. "We'll have a panel of citizens, including from Waitsburg and Star­buck," she said. "We want the community to be part of the process."

Naylor said that, at this point, she didn't know whether the board would hire a professional recruiter or conduct the CEO search in-house. Smiley is expect­ed to remain in the position for four to six months.