The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – During their regular meeting last week, the Columbia County Hospital District board named interim co-CEOs to fill in after the departure of current CEO Jon Smiley. Smiley resigned effective Sept. 30.

Chief Financial Officer Lee Holter and Chief Operations Officer Shane McGuire will serve as co-CEOs until the board names a permanent replacement for Smiley. That decision is expected to be made later this year.

According to CCHS Human Resources Director Steve Stahl, the committee reviewing applications for CEO has narrowed the list of candidate names down to five. The board met in executive session Thursday to discuss the list, then elected to allow the committee to complete further review before narrowing it down further. On-site interviews are expected to be completed in October.

Smiley has served as interim CEO and CEO for a total of two-and-a-half years. He is the former CEO of the Sunnyside Community Hospital in Sunnyside, Wash., where he served for nearly 20 years before leaving that position in 2012.

The CCHS board also is losing its current president, Ted Paterson, effective October 1. Paterson is moving out of the area, and the board is seeking names of anyone interested in filling his position. The board has received one letter of interest so far. They have elected to wait until their regular October board meeting to name a replacement.

Paterson’s term has four years left to run, but the position will be filled by the board only until a special election is held next year.

Anyone interested in applying for the open board position should submit a letter to the CCHS administration office.