Published: November 12, 2008 08:48 pm      

BRMC chief executive officer resigns

BLUEFIELD — An interim management team will fill the void at Bluefield Regional Medical Center following the resignation of the hospitals’ chief executive officer, officials said Wednesday.

Lynn Whitteker, chief executive officer of BRMC since November 2005, has tendered her resignation, hospital spokeswoman Becky Ritter said. Ritter said Whitteker informed the hospital Board of Directors that she was resigning to pursue employment opportunities in a teaching career in higher education and in health care consulting.

“I would personally like to thank the employees, medical staff and the community for their understanding of my decision and their continued support of the hospital,” Whitteker said in a prepared statement.

Chandler Swope, chairman of the BRMC Board of Directors, announced the transition plan to members of the hospital management and medical staff Wednesday afternoon.

Swope said Charles Mason and David Oster of the Somerset Healthcare Team will assume interim management of the hospital effective immediately.

“We thank Lynn for her guidance of BRMC and wish her success in her future endeavors,” Swope said.

Ritter said a smooth transition is expected at the hospital. Ritter said the interim management team will serve the hospital until a new CEO is found.

“The transition team is here on board right now,” Swope said Wednesday afternoon. “It was a smooth transition — management and the board worked together, and the transition team is in place.”

Swope said the Somerset Healthcare Team has worked for the hospital in the past on its strategic plan and business plan.

Swope said the announcement was made to the staff Wednesday, and the transition team was introduced.

Patients at the hospital will experience no change at all, Swope said. “This is the kind of thing businesses go through. We’re confident everything is going to be successful.”

For BRMC staff, it should be “business as usual,” Swope said. “There are no other management changes in the making.”

Swope said choosing a new CEO will be a “long-term process.”

Although the board will begin the process “soon,” Swope said it is not an “urgent priority.”

“It will start soon, and it will take as long as it takes,” he said. “The transition team can maintain the hospital as long as they’re needed. We have plenty of time to deal with the long-term.”

Discussing the process of choosing a new CEO, Swope said, “it’s a little like getting married — you want to be careful with the decision.”

Swope said Whitteker’s departure “is a sad day in my life.”

“If she wasn’t here three years ago, we would not have had the success we’ve had. I credit most of the hospital’s success” to Whitteker, he said.

Whitteker has been employed at BRMC for about 10 years, serving as CEO for the last three years.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com