With just one year under her belt, Cris Rivera, chief executive officer of Allen County Hospital, is leaving.
Rivera, 55, has accepted a similar position at Rio Grande Regional Medical Center in McAllen, Texas, her hometown.
The opportunity to be “closer to family” was the deciding factor of her departure, Rivera said in a memo to hospital staff, made public this morning.
Rivera took the reins at Allen County Hospital on Nov. 1, 2011. She succeeded Joyce Heismeyer who took the CEO position at Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita. Rivera’s last day will be Nov. 9.
Larry Peterson, chief financial officer of the hospital, will be asked to take on the additional responsibilities as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is named, said Harry Lee, hospital board chairman.
Hospital Corporation of America, which oversees the management of the hospital, will advertise the opening across its system. HCA is the largest hospital network in the nation.
“Joyce (Heismeyer) was a wonderful CEO. Cris has been a wonderful CEO. I have no doubt we’ll be able to find another wonderful CEO,” Lee said this morning.
Hospital trustees will have the final say on the new director, Lee said, unlike previous appointments made by executives within the big hospital network.
“The situation is different, this time around. It’s a lot for a prospective to candidate to consider,” Lee said, referring to the break with HCA management come Jan. 1, 2013. Beginning the first of the year the local board of trustees will assume oversight of the hospital’s budget.
All employees of the hospital, however, will remain HCA employees under contract with Allen County.
Hospital’s CEO steps down
