The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees, Monday, unanimously voted to invite former CEO Pat Markham to step in and serve as the Interim CEO until a permanent leader can be found for the hospital. Markham retired two-years ago, and even though she will have a bit of learning to catch-up on as far as how the hospital has progressed since her departure, the Board felt she was the best qualified to assume the role. The matter of her compensation, should she accept the position, will be discussed and acted on during the Board’s regular meeting on June 22nd.

Markham served the hospital for 29-years. She left in Jan. 2014, and was succeeded by Todd Hudspeth, who was fired last week after he agreed to an Alford Plea with regard to a check forgery case in Buena Vista County. Board President Ned Brown said he has spoken with Markham about coming back, and she tentatively agreed to do so. Quoting Markham, Brown told the Board she “Loves the hospital and will do whatever..” is needed to keep it on track.

CCMH Board of Trustees (Ric Hanson – photo)

The Board had discussed the possibility of having one of the current members of the hospital’s administrative team stepping-up to the plate to take over for a while, and while they had no doubt in the abilities of those individuals to do so, they didn’t want to put that heavy of a load on them.

On a related note, Denise Coder, Chief Human Resources Officer, told the Board she has received seven external applications for the CEO’s position since the position became open. The last time the Board went through the process of hiring a CEO, they went through a “Head hunting” firm. There were hundreds of applications at that time, with the final candidates being narrowed down to four.

The Board was not so hot on the idea of hiring another firm to duplicate the process because of their experience with Hudspeth. Instead, a committee will be appointed to make the final selections for interviews, once the administrative team narrows down the potential field of candidates. They will also seek guidance from the Hospital Association with regard to the best method of recruiting candidates.