Chief Executive Officer Carl Gerlach has announced his resignation, effective June 30, from Sonoma Valley Hospital.
“I made this decision with pride in our accomplishment to date and satisfaction in the work and planning done so far,” Gerlach said in a statement to staff. “I am confident that the future of the hospital is bright.”
The board has formed a committee to search for a replacement.
The announcement comes at precarious time for the hospital. Unexpected expenses and below-projected revenues have forced staff furloughs and salary cuts. Meanwhile the hospital’s construction and remodel, funded by a $35 bond measure passed on Gerlach’s watch, is moving through its design phase.
“This year, the ‘turn-around’ work I came here to do will move into the stage where the crucial decisions will have been made and the master planning will have been done,” Gerlach said in a statement.
Board chairman Bill Boerum praised Gerlach for his unique insights and problem-solving abilities. “He’s the kind of executive that you can peel back the onion with, and collaboratively identify alternative solutions with no ego in play. He has come up with solutions no one else could have imagined.”
Prior to being hired in March of 2007, Gerlach was with Oakland-based HFS Consultants, analyzing different options for a new hospital for the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition,
During the Coalition’s almost yearlong project, Boerum said. “Carl dazzled us with his intelligence and ideas. That carried over to his work as CEO at the hospital.”
When previous CEO Robert Kowal resigned, Gerlach became a natural candidate to replace him.
During a routine performance review recently, it came out that Gerlach wanted at some point to return to his consulting career. A mutually agreeable transition plan was then worked out, Boerum said.
“Even as I look to my own future, I will put my heart and soul into ensuring the future of Sonoma Valley Hospital,” Gerlach said.
Until his June 30 departure Gerlach will concentrate on resolving the hospital’s urgent financial problems, hiring a contractor for facility upgrades and the recruitment of new physicians.
“One of my reasons for confidence in the future of Sonoma Valley Hospital is the fact that it has many, many very competent and caring employees and managers,” Gerlach told his staff. “The teams we have put in place have been of such a caliber that I can responsibly move on.”
