Snoqualmie Valley Hospital CEO resigns; recommends interim CEO

Snoqualmie Valley Hospital CEO Tom Parker announced his resignation and recommended an interim CEO.

CEO of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Tom Parker announced his pending resignation set for Nov. 24. He has accepted a CEO position at Mammoth Hospital in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

In a message to hospital staff and the Public Hospital District No. 4’s board of directors, Parker thanked the people he worked with, and he reflected on the work accomplished and the progress made over the last eight years.

“It has been my great privilege to work with you, an exceptionally dedicated and skilled team of clinicians, support staff, managers, and executives who provide compassionate, technically skilled, and highly satisfying services to our patients, their family members, and the public,” Parker wrote. “I am proud of what we have accomplished as a team to assure the provision of safe and effective health care services and the long-term viability of the hospital. I know that Snoqualmie Valley Hospital will continue to thrive as an increasingly indispensable provider of health care services in the region.”

Mammoth Hospital is a larger organization with a broader scope of services, Parker said, and the role will allow his family to be closer to relatives in California, Utah and Arizona.

Parker has worked at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital for eight years, beginning in 2010 as the Chief Operating Officer. In April 2016, he was appointed by the board as the interim CEO and in June of that year the board hired him as the full-time CEO. Prior to his work for the hospital he was the executive director of Camp Korey.

District board president Dariel Norris thanked Parker for his years of work for the hospital and the progress they have made since he become CEO.

“Personally, it has been my pleasure to work with CEO Tom Parker. I appreciate that he engages each commissioner between board meetings to hear our concerns and goals for Snoqualmie Valley Hospital,” Norris said. “Our Hospital is in a better position as a result of his strong leadership and partnership with the Board of Commissioners as well as the executive staff. Tom Parker will be missed. I wish him the very best in his new executive position.”

Parker acknowledged that the hospital was in the process of seeking an affiliation partner and he would not be able to see it through to the end. At the regular board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 12, Parker recommended the board appoint chief medical officer Dr. Kim Whitkop to be the interim CEO until the hospital affiliates or board makes a decision to not affiliate. The board did not take action on the recommendation that night.

In order to support the transition and the affiliation process, chief financial officer Steve Daniel has extended his planned retirement to the end of March 2019.

Parker’s last scheduled meeting with the Public Hosptial District No. 4 board is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8.

Board President Dariel Norris and Hospital CEO Tom Parker ask Gallagher questions about the history of Astria Health. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)

Board President Dariel Norris and Hospital CEO Tom Parker ask Gallagher questions about the history of Astria Health. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)