The Southern Inyo Healthcare District issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:

“The Southern Inyo Healthcare District board accepted Lee Barron’s resignation from the positions of CEO, CFO, and CCO today with an effective date of Monday, December 14, 2015.

“Lee has lead us through a period of some very difficult changes in health care industry.

“The Board thanks Lee for her years of service and wishes her the best in the future.”

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From Deb Murphy

Lee Barron’s resignation shouldn’t have come as a surprise to those who have been following the issues at Southern Inyo.

With employees going without pay checks and last week’s closing of the hospital’s Emergency Room for lack of payment to the physicians, the community’s frustration and impatience was reaching critical mass.

A group of South County residents, led by Supervisor Matt Kingsley and Jaque Hickman, asked for and received a commitment for a meeting with Ridgecrest Regional Hospital’s board and administrative staff. That meeting, originally scheduled for today, was cancelled but rescheduled for some time following yesterday’s closed session.

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The next SIHD Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 17. Open session begins at 2 p.m. at the Southern Inyo Hospital front lobby.