Steve Stark, regional CEO of Orchard Hospital in Gridley, Calif., Glenn Medical Center in Willows, Calif., and Colusa (Calif.) Medical Center, was appointed CEO of Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital.
Mr. Stark assumed his new role on Aug. 15, bringing more than 12 years of hospital CEO experience with him, according to a hospital news release shared with Becker's.
He joins the Madera hospital as it has a reopening plan. The 106-bed acute care hospital closed in January 2023 and filed for Chapter 11 protection in March 2023. Earlier this year, a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Modesto, Calif.-based American Advanced Management's plan to operate the hospital. The hospital also re-emerged from Chapter 11 and, in June, received the first installment of a $57 million loan award from the state's distressed hospital program to aid its reopening.
With Mr. Stark's departure from his regional CEO role, Amy Micheli, DNP, from American Advanced Management will assume the role of interim hospital administrator to ensure a smooth transition, according to a hospital news release.
Additionally, former Madera hospital CEO Karen Paolinelli is stepping down and will continue to support the hospital's reopening on a contract basis, Madera Community Hospital Board President Deidre da Silva said in the release.
The Madera hospital expects to reopen within months, according to Matthew Beehler, chief strategy officer for Modesto, Calif.-based American Advanced Management. A job fair aiming to staff the facility is slated for later in August.