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GRMC Board of Trustees holds special meeting, names interim CEO 022420

By Mary Alice Murphy

At a brief meeting of two parts with a long executive session in between, the Gila Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees approved agreements with a new nurse practitioner for the hospital behavioral health unit and named an interim CEO.

Immediately after opening the meeting. the members went directly into the executive session to discuss limited personnel issues.

When they came out of the executive session, two hours later, they said no action was taken in the session, and Trustee Cynthia Moreno, as she is a hospital employee at the primary health clinic, recused herself from the actions to be taken on the CEO contracts.

The first items for action were to approve a BHU nurse practitioner employment agreement and an on-call agreement with Shiphrah William-Evans, PMHNP (psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner).

A second action approved a new contract for the provision of anesthesia services through the employed anesthesia practitioners of Clinical Colleagues Inc.

Chief Financial Officer Richard Stokes explained that the trustees are also asking for CRNAs to be interviewed on site for helping surgeons.

It was next announced that Board Chairman Tony Trujillo would be negotiating the CEO base contract and the severance provision of the CEO contract.

The last item of business approved the appointment of Richard W. Stokes, GRMC chief financial officer, as the interim CEO. No time limit was specified, but it is anticipated that future discussions will be held to determine that, as well as whether and when a search for permanent CEO will be done.

Trujillo said he appreciated Stokes taking on the role.

"I see lots of opportunities at GRMC to continue the clinical excellence and to right the ship financially," Stokes said. 

"Any time an organization goes through transitions, it's always difficult," Trujillo said. "I encourage the staff and physicians to stay focused on the great care we provide here. We recognize the difficulties, but we have a veteran in Stokes who can answer questions."