ST. FRANCIS NAMES INTERIM CEO

Don "Dusty" Rhodes will serve as interim chief executive officer of St. Francis Medical Center.

Rhodes will take over for James Sexton, who announced his resignation in December. Sexton, CEO for the past two years, leaves St. Francis Feb. 5 for a job as CEO of North Iowa Mercy Health Center and Network in Mason City, Iowa.

Rhodes, who was selected by the hospital's board of directors, serves as vice president of human resources at St. Francis. He has more than 20 years of experience in hospital administration.

"We've got such a quality management staff we could have really selected any one of our leadership to do the job," said Harry Rediger, chairman of the hospital board. "We selected Dusty and think he will do a good job.

"The ongoing operational issues of the hospital are really going to be handled by each of our management staff within their area of responsibility," Rediger said. "Dusty will help tie everyone together back to a common base."

The interim period should last a number of weeks. "We think it will be a relatively short period of time," Rediger said.

"It will be strictly interim," Rhodes said. "I'm going to try to keep things going."

The hospital is in the midst of its annual budget process and a major facility change. Some offices and patient services will be switching places within the hospital to offer better access to patients.

The hospital board is discussing whether a permanent replacement for Sexton will be necessary. The decision hinges on a possible merger with Southeast Missouri Hospital. The hospitals are awaiting a ruling by the Missouri attorney general's office concerning the merger.

The attorney general's office has told Rediger that a decision should be forthcoming in the next week to 10 days.

"We want to keep things going so we don't miss a step along the way," Rhodes said. "We have a real good team here, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Sexton said while Rhodes' title was vice president of human resources, his responsibilities covered much more. "I view him as a general administrator," Sexton said. "He's plugged in well beyond human resources."

Rhodes said, "Managers have responsibilities in various areas in the hospital. Hopefully that experience will stand me well."