Hoping to improve the odds that voters will approve a hospital parcel tax, Robert Kowal, the CEO of the Sonoma Valley Hospital, and John MacConaghy, a hospital board member, this week resigned from their posts.
At presstime, Kowal’s resignation wasn’t official. The hospital board was due to discuss the matter in closed session Wednesday evening.
But Kowal sent an e-mail Tuesday to all of the hospital’s employees that said, in part, “I want you to know that our board and I are in discussions about my stepping down as CEO and taking on more of a consulting role at the hospital.
“It is my strong desire to do whatever I am able to do for the benefit of our hospital and right now passing the parcel tax on March 6 is number one in my mind. This step is designed to assist in that endeavor.”
Meanwhile, in a letter sent last week to hospital board chairman Richard Kirk, MacConaghy blamed himself for enthusiastically supporting Measure C, the controversial, failed ballot measure to build a new, earthquake-safe, $148 million hospital on a Fifth Street West hayfield owned by the Leveroni family, an unwilling seller.
“It is evident that Measure C continues to create significant hard feelings in our community. Alarmingly, these sentiments imperil the continuation of the parcel tax.
“Of all the members of the former board, it was I who most enthusiastically promoted the vision of ‘the best small hospital in America’ and the resulting $148 million price tag of Measure C,” MacConaghy wrote.
“Hopefully, my resignation will close the chapter on that painful episode once and for all and allow the vital work of the (hospital) district to go forward.”
MacConaghy’s letter also praises the current hospital administration as “among the finest and most capable people I have ever met” and discusses the management style of the newly elected board.
“My resignation will… enable the board to implement its policy of direct, ‘hands on’ management of the hospital without further disharmony.”
MacConaghy’s resignation was to be effective at the end of the hospital board’s Wednesday meeting.
The hospital board was due Wednesday to discuss hiring an interim CEO.
Some community members have suggested that Barbara Bamberg, the retired hospital CEO whom Kowal succeeded three years ago, might be picked to fill the interim slot.
Hospital board member Michael Nugent wouldn’t confirm that Tuesday, but told the Sun, “Absolutely, she could be the interim CEO.”
