The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors hosted a community meet-and-greet Wednesday night with three finalists for the hospital CEO position.
Wrangell residents joined the hospital board at the Nolan Center to ask the CEO candidates questions and submit their feedback to the board.
WMC Board President Terri Henson said the board is excited to have three great candidates.
“I think it’s important that the public get a chance to meet them and it’s important to get their feedback,” Henson said. “And that’s why we have the little box where people can put their comments. I think they all need to know our community because a CEO’s job is working for the community and with the community.”
Aaron McPherson is the only internal CEO candidate, and he has been in Wrangell for a year and a half. McPherson is Wrangell Medical Center’s Long Term Care director of operations and director of the Rehabilitation Department, and he said he wants to see the hospital succeed.
“Really what I’ve been doing here in Wrangell, I started out as director of rehab. I worked my way up to director of visiting physicians. I got a nursing home administrator license, and now I do operations at the hospital,” McPherson said. “So I kind of have my hand in all the jobs at the hospital. And administration is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Robert Rang is Long Term Care administrator at a hospital in Kodiak, and he previously worked at Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation. He said he worked as a nurse for 20 years before taking on different leadership positions in health care.
“What intrigued me about coming to this position in Wrangell as the CEO is, one, the community. You have a very nice community here,” Rang said. “And the facility itself. I understand that you’re wanting to pursue the new building. And having that experience in my current position with a new facility, I liked that challenge and thought I could utilize my resources and skill set to help facilitate that as well.”
The third finalist, Jeffrey Lyle, is from Texas. He held a few leadership positions in Washington and has been working as an interim administrator for the past 15 years. He said he and his wife are ready to settle in one place after moving frequently.
“We want to become part of a community,” Lyle said. “And it seems like I can use the skills and experience that I’ve gained over the last 35 years to maybe help out up here and give the people a facility they’ll be proud of and won’t have to leave home to get their health care.”
The hospital board will have a special meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday and may offer one of the candidates the job of hospital CEO.
The search started this summer after interim CEO Marla Sanger announced she would resign at the end of October. She has been interim CEO since November 2012.
