The Wrangell Medical Center Board last week announced it had narrowed the field for the hospital’s future executive officer from ten candidates to three.
After meeting Wednesday morning, board members wanted to see more of Jeffery Lyle, Aaron McPherson and Robert Rang.
Coming from Belton, Texas, and Kodiak, Alaska, respectively, Lyle and Rang will be brought to Wrangell for site visits next week, from Tuesday through Friday. Along with Wrangell resident McPherson, they will meet with hospital staff, Alaska Island Community Services personnel, city officials and other community figures.
The three will also have the opportunity to meet with the public at an open reception at the Nolan Center on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Residents are encouraged to attend, and forms will be available for residents to provide feedback to the hospital board as it makes its final decision.
“We are really happy to have these three wonderful candidates to work with,” board president Terri Henson said in a media release. Starting with a field of three dozen candidates, the board expects to make a final decision by the end of next week.
A new CEO for the hospital is needed after current head Marla Sanger announced in June she would not continue in the position after October. PeaceHealth, which employs her, indicated it would not seek to renew its management contract with WMC after Sanger’s departure.
For the past nine years, Lyle has served as an interim healthcare executive for a consultancy, directing various levels of hospital and clinical administration for health organizations across the country. Now that his wife has recently retired from active duty in the military, the two are looking for a more permanent residence, and they have some experience with Alaska. Lyle would bring more than three decades of administrative experience with him.
McPherson is the current director of operations for WMC’s long term care and rehabilitation services, and he coordinates the hospitals’ visiting specialists. He and his wife have been in Wrangell since March 2014. Previously, McPherson was director of rehabilitation services at Artesia General Hospital in New Mexico. He has a doctorate of physical therapy from the University of South Carolina and is expecting to receive his masters of business administration next May.
Rang is currently the long-term care administrator for the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center and was previously the chief nurse executive for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel. Serving in the Army on active-duty and in the reserves for 28 years, Rang is a registered nurse and holds masters degrees in both health administration and nursing.
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