WO R K F O R CE
CALLING IT A DAY Clockwise from top-left: Randy Pederson accepts an NRHA Critical Access Hospital Award in 2015; serving as a first responder; and with spouse Karen.
ALARM OFF
After four decades, longtime Tioga Medical Center CEO Randy Pederson calls it a career. Randy Pederson no longer sets his alarm clock. He no longer
“People told me that I would know when it was time to retire,
enters the Tioga Medical Center each day, as he had for the
and they were right,” he smiled.
past 40 years. And he’s fine with that. After a long tenure as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Randy Pederson has retired. Tioga Medical Center (TMC) in Tioga, N.D., has had two CEOs in the past 48 years. Pederson was that executive for nearly 16 of those 48 years, and his predecessor held the title for 32 years before that. This is an astounding track record considering the average tenure of a healthcare CEO is about five years, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives. Pederson’s long career with TMC started in 1980, when he took a job out of college as the facility’s office manager. From there, he quickly moved into the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), then added vice president and assistant administrator titles to his duties. In 2005, Pederson was tapped for the CEO position, a title he held until late last year. 20
North Dakota Medicine Spring 2021
His duties at the hospital alone hardly encompassed the active community leader that Pederson was, and still is. A long-serving member of the Tioga Fire and Ambulance team, Pederson is used to taking emergency calls at all hours of the day or night. He is now taking an even more active role in the organization since retirement, setting up an office at the fire department and managing the books there. “It was pretty common for me to show up in the ambulance bay with a patient during the work week,” Pederson said of his role as a firefighter. Additionally, Pederson’s voice can be heard over the radio during broadcasts of local sporting events, where he calls playby-play for high school games.
