Bartlett to search for interim CEO

Published 10:30 pm Thursday, September 23, 2021

In a special meeting Friday afternoon, the Bartlett Regional Hospital Board of Directors agreed on a timeline to recruit a new, longer-term, interim chief executive officer.

Before going into an executive session, the board agreed to move forward quickly to have a new person in place by the middle of October.

The decision comes at the end of a tumultuous week at the hospital. With just six months in the top job, Rose Lawhorne resigned from the top job on Saturday.

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City and Borough of Juneau City Manager, Rorie Watt, said Lawhorne resigned amid news of an inappropriate personal relationship with a subordinate staff member, which violates city policy.

After Lawhorne’s resignation, the board of Directors appointed Kathy Callahan to serve as interim CEO. Callahan has a long history of service at the hospital, recently retiring as Director of Physician Services, officials said in a news release earlier this week.

CBJ Human Resources director Dallas Hargrave told the board that Callahan’s last day as the interim CEO will be Oct. 25.

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To meet the mid-October timeline, the interim CEO recruitment committee plans to start interviewing candidates via Zoom and conduct reference checks as soon as next week, Hargrave told the board.

The plan calls for the recruitment committee to present a candidate to the board by the week of Oct. 4, with an appointment coming the week of Oct. 11.

Hargrave told the board that the timeline could vary slightly from the plan but that the committee will move quickly.

• Contact reporter Dana Zigmund at dana.zigmund@juneauempire.com or 907-308-4891.