New CEO at Watsonville Hospital • Mysterious Tree Survey in Aptos Village Park

COMMUNITY NEWS New CEO at Watsonville Hospital

Steven Salyer is the new chief executive officer of Watsonville Community Hospital as of July 6.

“My primary focus will be on ensuring the operational success of the hospital as one of the leading providers of healthcare in the area,” he said. “To achieve this goal, I am committed to building a strong partnership with the Watsonville Community Hospital medical staff and employees and working closely with them to enhance clinical quality, patient safety, and overall customer satisfaction.”

The 106-bed full-service acute-care hospital, which has lost money for several years, serves Watsonville, a city of more than 53,000 and 81 percent Hispanic. It’s the partner hospital for Kaiser Permanente, which has clinics and a health plant but not hospital in Santa Cruz County.

Salyer, 45, who has 14 years of hospital leadership experience, comes from UP Health System — Marquette, a 222-bed specialty care and Level 2 trauma hospital in Marquette, Michigan,

affiliated with Duke University School of Medicine. As chief operating officer, Salyer oversaw all UP Health System — Marquette’s ancillary hospital operations including the cancer center, cardiology service line, employed physician clinics, surgery center, and imaging centers. Previously, Salyer was CEO of Sebastian River Medical Center in Sebastian, Florida, and as COO of Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, Florida. In 2010, Salyer led a joint Steven Salyer venture acquisition of Starke Regional Medical Center in Starke, Florida, with Shands University of Florida. As CEO of the hospital, Salyer oversaw creation of several new service lines as well as significant improvements in clinical quality, employee and physician satisfaction, and volume growth. Before that, he was COO of Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee. A graduate of East Tennessee State University in exercise science, he has a master’s degree in business administration from New York Institute of Technology. He also has certificates in Lean/Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, and executive leadership.

He was a captain in the US. Marine Corps for five years, in peacetime and in combat support operations in Iraq.

Bruce Grimshaw, senior vice president, hospital operations/chief operating officer of hospitals — national at Prospect Medical, the company managing Watsonville Community Hospital, described Salyer as innovative.

“He has a strong track record of increasing patient, employee and physician satisfaction, establishing cultures of excellence, recruiting new physicians, and improving quality,” Grimshaw said. “Steven’s leadership will be a great asset to the hospital, and he will be an active and engaged member of the Watsonville community.”

LosAngeles-based Prospect Medical, which runs hospitals in five states, has been running Watsonville Community Hospital

“Steven’s leadership will be a great asset to the hospital, and he will be an active and engaged member of the Watsonville community.”

— Bruce Grimshaw

since mid-January when formed owner Halsen was unable to meet its financial obligations.

Halsen sold the hospital building and property to Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust, and then leased it, a deal that netted $39 million to run the hospital, and defaulted on payments.

Kevin Spiegel, senior vice president for strategic planning and business development for Prospect in California, told Santa Cruz County officials in March that Watsonville Community Hospital has been losing money for the last couple of years and could have been in difficulty without the Medical Properties Trust deal. n

Mysterious Tree Survey in Aptos Village Park

When Aptos resident Becky Steinbruner noticed trees with metal tags in the county’s Aptos Village Park, she wondered: Who surveyed these trees?

She asked the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission – and learned the agency has no information.

She asked Santa Cruz County Parks and Recreation and learned the agency has no idea who did the tree survey on county park land.

She asked county parks chief Jeff Gaffney. He responded via email: We have no one at Parks that is aware of any tree surveys at Aptos Village Park or any tree work being performed.

Could these metal tag pre-date county ownership?

Alright, someone fess up! Email the story to editor Jondi Gumz at info@ cyber-times.com. n Plenty of Free Customer Parking

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