Four candidates hoping to serve as Allen County Regional Hospital’s next administrator have visited the hospital and community over the past two weeks.
Local officials and those from Saint Luke’s Health System of Kansas City have been conducting interviews and visits in the search for a new administrator, as ACRH transitions to a lease agreement under Saint Luke’s.
The lease is expected to take effect June 1, though the Home Health and Hospice departments will join the Saint Luke’s system on April 27.
Hospital board of trustees said they expect to have a new administrator hired in the next 30 days or so, although it’s likely that person will train with Saint Luke’s staff for at least another 30 days.
The four candidates are fairly diverse, ACRH Board President Loren Korte said. They include three men and one woman. Two are younger. One has military experience.
All come from larger cities, which Korte said brought up a recurring question from board members to the candidates: “Do you think you’d be happy in a small town?”
All said they could, Korte reported.
The ACRH board also stressed the importance of hiring an administrator who was willing to work with local physicians, including those at private clinics such as the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas and the Family Physicians group.
“We want to keep everyone involved with the hospital,” Korte said.
The interview process has included visits to various locations around Iola and the surrounding area. The team also took candidates to Anderson County Hospital in Garnett, which is part of the Saint Luke’s system.
Saint Luke’s has conducted the interview process, including screening the initial batch of candidates down to the final four. Representatives from Saint Luke’s are expected to attend next month’s board meeting to offer their final recommendation to the board.
Interim CEO Larry Peterson, who also serves as chief financial officer at ACRH, discussed other details of the transition.
Efforts to move home health and hospice are on track, with big changes to that department. Employees will be expected to spend most of their time in the field, relying on laptops and secured cellphones to communicate with each other.
Currently, staff use an office at a physicians building at 826 E. Madison Ave., where they meet as a team every morning. Those meetings would become remote telemeetings. It was not clear if a limited number of staff would remain at the office, or work from another location.
The department will spend most of April making the final transition, so there could be some delay in admitting new patients.
