Taffy Arias has accepted the position and signed the agreement.

At left, Arias answers community questions.

By Mary Alice Murphy

According to Gila Regional Board of Trustees chairman, Jeremiah Garcia, and Selection Committee co-chairman with Garcia, Tony Trujillo, the board offered the GRMC chief executive officer position to Taffy Arias, one of two candidates interviewed in Silver City last week.

Garcia said she has accepted the offer, which Garcia reported is for an annual salary of $270,000 plus moving expenses. The signed agreement was received at GRMC this afternoon. Reportedly, she will report to work at GRMC on May 29, 2017.

Arias told the GRMC Executive Committee that she wants to relocate back to the Southwest.

She has served as CEO at Martin General Hospital, in Williamston, North Carolina, since October 2014. Arias was the Chief Nurse Officer at Porter Hospital in Porter, Indiana from Feb. 2009-Oct. 2014.

[Editor's Note: The following was written up by this author after the local interview last week, when Arias talked to community members.]

Taffy Arias was one of two Gila Regional Medical Center chief executive officer candidates chosen by the GRMC Board of Trustees to visit Silver City to meet with GRMC staff, physicians and nurses, and community and Selection Committee members.

Arias visited on Monday, April 10, 2017.

"At the meet and greet with caregivers right before this one," she told community and Selection Committee members, "this room was full with some in the hallway. It reinforced what this hospital means to the community."

She said it was important to know that the community supports the hospital.

"Decisions in health care are difficult," Arias said. "Any organization that makes decisions in a silo is fraught with potential problems. I appreciate your kindness to me today."

She said her background to become a CEO was through the ranks. "I started in nursing, as a staff nurse, went to administration, then became a chief nursing officer before reaching the CEO level."

To a question about whether she had worked in a county-owned hospital, she said she had, a 301-bed hospital owned by the county, which later sold the medical facility.

"Being a CEO in a for-profit hospital has big differences from non-profit, county-owned facilities," Arias said. "I've served in both. All hospitals must take care of their patients and make money and daily accountability is important in hospitals and for our lives. Nothing is worse than being mediocre. You have to strive to be not just good, but to be the best. "

She said she had learned the importance of planning. "Take care of today but look to the future."

"Always have a sense of humor," Arias said. "Life is tough. With health care, you're never quite sure how it will turn out. As leaders, we must be balanced in life and work with that sense of humor. I have been very impressed with this hospital. You have great equipment, a great staff and a great community."

As for her family roots, she and her husband, who is from Mexico, have a home in El Paso. "My children and grandchildren are there. I'm a Texan. We also have a daughter in Dallas."

A community member asked her if she had worked with rehabilitation centers, and she replied that she had been responsible for rehabilitation.

Another resident asked if Arias had dealt with "hard decisions."

"There are always going to be decisions that make us unhappy," Arias said. "But the goal is for the greater good. I would have to rely on the expertise of the board and the community. Once a decision is make, I have to make sure it is materialized. I can go home and weep, but the community will not see me do that."

A retired hospital employee asked about furloughing versus reduction in force.

"I have looked at all options in that situation," Arias said. "I have to determine which one we can do to lead to something that will further the hospital. We offered PTO (paid time off) time, which led us to reassess some positions, which we could switch out. We brought some back permanently, after we went back to the board to request bringing them back, but some we had to let go.

"I would have to talk to the director over that position," she continued. "I can't make that decision alone. We furloughed 10 people and based on voluntary flexing time, it came to 17."

A community member asked how the hospital could increase revenue.

"We could look at developing a niche to produce cash," Arias said. "It would have to be something insurance will pay for and that can grow volume.

"We have to think outside the box, with creativity and thinking within the group," she said. "It means looking at outpatient and ancillary volume."

One of the selection committee members asked her if she thought she would fit into the community.

"I've lived in lots of places," Arias said. "Big cities, little cities, it's all in how you see the world. How you look at it. Yes, I can see myself here. It's like El Paso, except El Paso has more stores."

The former employee said the hospital had pulled back from outpatient programs. What about chronic disease programs?

Arias said such programs, as in diabetes, could be in family practices. "All the hospital resources can't go there."

She then mingled with those attending the reception, chatted and answered questions.