The head of Providence’s Kodiak Island Medical Center officially leaves his administrator position next week on May 31. But that job vacancy is only one of a few leadership jobs and one of dozens of medical positions Providence is struggling to fill in Kodiak.
Not including the administrator position recently vacated by Karl Hertz, there are 24 job listings open at Kodiak’s medical center as of Friday, May 23, according to Providence’s job site.
It’s part of a larger, organization-wide issue for Providence, which has paused all nonclinical hiring, according to reporting from FierceHealthcare.com. This leaves the local healthcare facility that serves thousands of Kodiak Island residents in a state of flux, which will likely continue for an undetermined amount of time.
Providence operates 50-plus hospitals and roughly 1,000 clinics in the western U.S. Aside from Kodiak, that includes facilities in five other Alaska communities – Anchorage, Eagle River, Mat-Su, Seward and Valdez.
Laura Mullican, communications specialist for Kodiak Island Medical Center, said via email that daily operations or the quality of care will not suffer, despite the company’s nonclinical hiring pause, local staffing challenges and the current leadership transition.
“We have a dedicated team of leaders and caregivers committed to maintaining excellent patient care. Our leadership is actively engaged in strategic partnerships throughout the city and borough, ensuring continuity and collaboration,” Mullican said.
Meanwhile, the administrator position is currently being filled in the interim by Lori Riddle.
Riddle said in an emailed statement provided by Mullican, “As we look to the future, I am excited to continue working alongside our caregivers and community partners to build on our strong foundation and move forward together.”
On top of handling the head medical center position, Riddle is now also temporarily overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Chiniak Bay Elder House, a local assisted living facility, according to Mullican.
The director of nursing position at the Elder House was recently vacated following the sudden departure of the previous director, Stephanie Woods. Mullican did not say in her email to KMXT when or why Woods is no longer working in the position.
Hertz announced last month on April 17 at a Kodiak Island Borough Assembly meeting that he would be leaving the Kodiak medical center to take a similar job in Soldotna as the COO at Central Peninsula Hospital. His last official day with Providence is May 31, though he is already in the process of moving off-island, according to his social media accounts.
Although Providence has known about Hertz’s departure for at least a month now, as of May 23, the administrator job has not been posted on the healthcare corporation’s website. And neither has the Chiniak Bay Elder House’s director of nursing position, although Mullican said Providence is preparing the job posting and will search internally and externally for the best candidate.
It is unknown how long it could take for Providence to hire the next permanent administrator for the local medical center.
