St. Charles Interim President/CEO Dr. Steve Gordon accepts permanent position

(Update: Nurses' union issues statement)

'Plenty of work still lies ahead, but we’re seeing results'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – St. Charles Health System’s Board of Directors announced Monday that Interim President/CEO Dr. Steve Gordon has accepted the position for the health system on a permanent basis.

Dr. Gordon has been serving as interim president and CEO since last July, when Joe Sluka stepped down after nearly eight years at the helm of the more than 4,500-employee organization. A national search was then announced for Sluka's permanent successor.

“The board has been very appreciative of Steve’s leadership and desired to have him become the permanent CEO,” said Jamie Orlikoff, chairman of the St. Charles Board of Directors. “We are thrilled that he has accepted the position. We look forward to a productive partnership with him for the benefit of the community and our patients.”

Here's the rest of Monday's health system announcement:

Gordon is an experienced health care executive and former member of the St. Charles Board of Directors. A primary care and internal medicine physician by training, he has served in executive leadership roles for PeaceHealth in Vancouver, Wash., Providence Health and Services in Portland and Salem Health. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

“I am energized to build on what we’ve learned so far from service line development in many areas of the organization. Plenty of work still lies ahead, but we’re seeing results from focusing first on clinical excellence and a better experience for our patients, caregivers, physicians and providers,” Gordon said. “I have enjoyed getting to know this extraordinary organization in a new and deeper way in recent months. We simply have the best people who are committed to providing patients with exceptional care. I want to continue supporting them in that noble endeavor.”

Over the past seven months, Gordon has launched a new service-line focused structure that groups and manages services that support a patient throughout their health care journey.

Under his leadership, the health system realized improved financial performance for the second half of 2022 and is committed to returning to a positive operating margin by the end of 2023. Retaining highly experienced caregivers and working to recruit new permanent staff are among his top priorities.

Working with an external search firm, the St. Charles Board conducted a survey along with small group and individual meetings with a variety of identified stakeholders to determine the attributes most desired in the next health system CEO. The top qualities identified by more than 1,600 St. Charles caregivers and community partners were compassion for patients and staff, experience as a direct health care provider and visibility and presence across all sites of care and in the communities St. Charles serves.

“During this interim period, Steve has naturally embodied these attributes making him easily the top choice for the position,” said Ann Rhoads, chair of the board’s CEO search committee. “We heard repeatedly from the listening sessions that caregivers, physicians and community partners would be thrilled to see Steve in the role for the long term. We believe he is the best person to lead St. Charles into the future and that he will drive the system to provide excellence in care, service and organizational culture.”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, Madras, Prineville, Redmond, La Pine and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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The Oregon Nurses Association issued a statement on the news of Gordon's appointment, saying in part, "He stepped up during a difficult period of transition and we appreciate his commitment to the health system."

"While we are disappointed St. Charles executives chose not to involve local frontline nurses and allied health care workers in its search for our community’s next CEO; we appreciate Dr. Gordon’s assertion that retaining and recruiting skilled and experienced nurses, doctors and caregivers to live in and care for our communities must be St. Charles’ top priority. We agree. Raising standards to recruit and retain our best nurses and caregivers is the quickest, most effective solution to address St. Charles’ staffing crisis and to ensure our community has the caregivers it needs now and for years to come."