The board of trustees at Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, N.M., has appointed CFO Richard Stokes interim CEO, Silver City Daily Press reports.
Mr. Stokes will continue his CFO duties. He is stepping in for hospital CEO Taffy Arias, who resigned Feb. 14.
"There is a lot of opportunity at GRMC, and I am looking forward to making the necessary changes to not only continue clinical excellence, but righting the ship financially," Mr. Stokes said after the appointment, according to the Daily Press.
Mr. Stokes became CFO of Gila Regional in February 2018. During his tenure, the hospital reportedly has seen improvement with its systems of management and accounting practices.
Board members appointed Mr. Stokes to the interim CEO position during the same meeting in which they discussed Ms. Arias' resignation.
When asked why Ms. Aria resigned, Mr. Trujillo told the Daily Press: "We owe it to the public to say something, but we are being guided by attorneys to remain silent on that for now. We're going to finalize her contract and severance agreement, and then we will say something about it."
Ms. Arias was named CEO of Gila Regional in April 2017. She refused to comment to the newspaper.
Read the full Daily Press report here.