Capital Medical Center CEO resigns to take job with Skagit Regional Health

Jim Geist, who led Capital Medical Center for nearly seven years, is set to take a new role with Skagit Regional Health in Mount Vernon.

His last day at Capital Medical is Jan. 12, the parent company of the west Olympia hospital announced Wednesday.

Geist will be replaced on an interim basis by Jeff Egbert, who previously worked for a hospital in Arizona, a spokesman for the company said. Egbert starts Jan. 10.

Jeff Atwood, spokesman for parent company Regional Care Capella Health, said the search for a new CEO is underway.

Geist said Wednesday that he starts Jan. 16 as Skagit Regional Health system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Skagit Regional Health operates two hospitals — in Mount Vernon and Arlington — plus 16 medical clinics and a 150-provider (physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) medical group. The scale of the operation was attractive, Geist said.

During Geist’s time at Capital Medical, he said, the hospital added neurosurgery and a diagnostic imaging center, showed growth in orthopedic and spinal surgery, and made significant gains in quality and patient satisfaction. The hospital also renovated and expanded its women’s services and birthing center.

An operating room expansion is underway.

“The hospital has a tremendous leadership team, staff and physicians,” Geist said. “I enjoyed my experience and time working with the team.”

He also was proud of the fact that the average number of beds occupied at the hospital has grown to between 35 and 55, up from 13 to 20 when he started. The hospital has 110 beds.

He encountered challenges, too. One of those was restoring trust and providing stability because, before his arrival, hospital leadership had been a revolving door of executives.

There also were those in the community who thought that Capital Medical Center wasn’t a full-service hospital, but simply a medical center.

“I do believe the word is out,” he said. “It is a true acute care hospital with a strong reputation.”

Another challenge in health care applies to all hospitals, he said: the declining rates of reimbursement.

“All need to be more efficient so that they can provide high quality care with fewer resources,” he said.

Nashville area Regional Care Capella Health operates 17 hospitals. RCCH was created when Regional Care Hospital Partners and Capella Healthcare merged last spring.

This story was originally published January 4, 2017 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Capital Medical Center CEO resigns to take job with Skagit Regional Health."