Temp CEO making rounds at hospital

Published 8:16 am Tuesday, February 3, 2015

JOHN DAY – The remoteness. The small towns. The scenic mountains. The dry climate.

Coming from Wyoming, Margie Molitor found plenty to make her feel at home in John Day – even temporarily.

Molitor is the interim CEO at Blue Mountain Hospital. She began her duties in mid-January, succeeding Bob Houser, who retired after 15 years with the district.

Molitor was brought in by HealthTech Management Services, which contracts with the hospital district. She expects to be on the job through the recruitment process for a new permanent CEO.

“I’m excited to be here,” she said. “We’ve got people here who really want to do a good job for the community.”

In her first two weeks, Molitor began meeting with staff and putting names to faces for as many of the hospital’s 187 employees as she could. She attended her first board of directors meeting, and is getting to know the different departments and their needs.

“Every place has its own challenges,” she said. “Right now I’m figuring out how we do things here.”

However, Molitor said HealthTech assigns its interim CEOs to be active managers and not just hold down the fort during a transition.

“We’re expected not just to manage, but to improve,” she said. She said she’ll focus on ensuring efficiency of operations and good customer service, and also assist the district board with the ongoing CEO recruitment process.

As for her own style, she said, “I believe in a culture of accountability, and doing things the way they should be done.”

Molitor is no stranger to small hospitals.

She began her career as a registered nurse, and was a chief nursing officer for 14 years followed by 10-plus years in CEO work.

She earned her nursing degree from South Dakota State University, and worked for Banner Health for 24 years, all of it in small hospitals in South Dakota, Utah, Nebraska and Wyoming.

She was the CEO at Washakie Medical Center in Worland, Wyo., where she and her husband, Leon, live. They have a son in college and a daughter attending high school.

Molitor, who is accredited as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, went to work for HealthTech last fall, and spent three months on an interim CEO assignment in Nebraska.

She expects to be in John Day, except for a few trips home to Wyoming, until a new permanent CEO arrives. If all goes according to plan, that could be May or early June.

HealthTech has already been advertising the position, and the hospital board is expected to begin reviewing resumes this month.

The hiring process will include site visits and board interviews with the top candidates.

While HealthTech reaches out to attract candidates, she stressed, “the selection will be the board’s decision.”

She lauded the board’s involvement.

“They are very interested in finding the right person for this job, and trying to foster that culture of accountability,” she said.