Hospital gets interim administrator

In a called meeting Tuesday night the Roanoke Health Care Authority named an interim administrator for Randolph Medical Center.

Authority Chairman Matt Knight said that after coming out of executive session members voted to appoint Michael Parsons as interim administrator.

Parsons, who came here last year from Physicians Medical Center Carraway in Birmingham, is RMC’s chief financial officer.

“He will serve as our interim administrator until we formalize and hire a permanent replacement. With that we went ahead and voted for a search committee and selected Joe Davis as chairman,” Knight said.

Parsons is a bright young man, who fits in well at the hospital and has a very good financial mind, Knight said.

Tim Harlin, RMC administrator for more than four years, recently tendered his resignation to accept a position at a much larger hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., Hennepin County Medical Center. He is working a three-month notice.

Joe Davis is RMC’s human resource director. He and the committee will determine criteria for candidates, accept applications, and determine the best four or five candidates and submit those to the authority.

Knight said after the committee decides which candidates will best meet the hospital’s needs authority members will interview them.

The seven-member search committee will consist of Davis, two current authority board members, the chief of staff, a current member of the medical staff and two other hospital employees.

Parsons has worked well with Harlin and Knight said he expects they will continue to work well together. He knows the direction the hospital is going and is familiar with on-going projects like the remodeling of the emergency room, Knight said.

Hopefully, the committee will be ready to meet in two weeks when the authority holds its regular meeting Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. at the hospital.

“With Michael being in place and Tim working his 90-day notice we don’t feel we’re in a quick mode to do this,” he said, adding they will take their time to get the right person.

He met with employees Wednesday at the hospital to inform them of what is going on to keep down any kind of rumors and to let them know they are not going to clean house, he said.