Central Peninsula Hospital announced that Rick Davis, the Chief Executive Officer, plans to retire on June 30, 2022. As part of the leadership succession plan, the CPGH, Inc. Board of Directors interviewed current Chief Operating Officer, Shaun Keef as a candidate for CEO and he was determined to be a highly qualified candidate for the appointment.
Bruce Richards, External Affairs Director, said that the board appointed Keef to succeed Davis at its March 31 regular board meeting:
“(Davis) along with the Board of Director worked on succession planning, which basically talked about if there’s somebody within the organization with the skills and capabilities to lead the organization forward, then that would be the first step before going out to doing nationwide searches for CEOs and that type of thing. That’s exactly what happened. We had Shaun Keef who’s the COO, he’s been here since 2018. Shaun’s skill level is very deep, and he’s been in healthcare for 27 years and has been a CEO before. It all kind of came together. They had a board meeting last night and this is the result of that. Rick’s going to be retiring as the CEO at the end of June and Shaun will take over as the Chief Executive Officer on July 1st.”
In saying that it was an honor to serve as CEO, Davis expressed confidence in future success that Central Peninsula Hospital is well positioned to ensure a smooth transition in praising the seasoned Board of Directors, strong leadership team, amazing employees, and Keef at the helm. His selection is the culmination of a robust, multi-year discussion regarding leadership development and succession planning for the organization led by the board and Davis.
Keef wrote:
“I want to thank Rick for his leadership at Central Peninsula Hospital and also the Board for its confidence in me as I step into this role. I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to work with our talented leadership team, medical staff and employees who are providing high quality care every day to patients in our local community and the rest of Kenai Peninsula.”
Keef began serving as COO in January 2018 but brings to the CEO position more than 27 years of experience working in the profit and non-profit side of healthcare as a CFO, COO, and CEO for organizations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Alaska.
The CEO transition takes effect July 1, 2022.
NOTE: Image courtesy of the Central Peninsula Hospital social media page.
