Northern Inyo Healthcare District’s Board of Directors made it official Wednesday evening, naming Kelli Davis as permanent Chief Executive Officer, effective October 24.
Davis served as interim CEO since February 2020 and as Chief Operating Officer since 2016. Davis’s unwavering commitment and responsive leadership during a turbulent healthcare time earned her deserving praise both from within and outside the District. After a competitive search process, the Board chose to act upon the recommendation of its search committee and offer Davis the position.
Board Chair Robert Sharp noted since announcing the Board’s intentions to recruit Davis as CEO; he encountered a steady stream of positive comments from both past and present employees, as well as community members.
“So many have complimented the Board on this decision,” Sharp said Thursday afternoon. “I have not had one negative comment on Kelli’s selection. She truly has been interviewing for the job for the last 18 months, not just with the Board but also with our employees, providers, partners, and community. Kelli has proven herself repeatedly as a more than capable leader who cares about the District’s financial stability, the quality of its services, and our commitment to our patients and employees. Her passion is to help maintain quality healthcare access for generations of Owens Valley residents to come. I do not thinkwe could have made a better choice.”
As Davis’ contract went to the Board for ratification, different areas of the District voiced support for the choice. Comments came from physicians, District directors, and those who engage with Davis as role model and mentor. Overcome by the warmth shown to her, Davis said she is grateful for the comments presented to the Board.
“I would be deeply remiss if I did not recognize the Executive Team, the District’s leaders, and of course, the frontline staff and providers,” Davis said. “I feel quite humbled. I feel like we as a team have taken the last year and a half and handled it with complete grace and a lot of humility. It is a small recognition of the huge amount of support the Board gives to this District and the dedication the Board shows to the our community. In the end, it all comes down to how we can best serve the people of our Healthcare District. I am grateful for this opportunity. It is a great blessing to me and one which I take with great pride and honor.”
A longtime Bishop resident, Davis has been with NIHD for more than 10 years. Davis represents the fourth generation of her family to call the Owens Valley home. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Healthcare Management. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a Healthcare Management and Human Resources focus and certifications in Healthcare Compliance, Privacy and Security Compliance, and Healthcare Ethics.
She currently serves on the boards of Eastern Sierra Area Agency on Aging and Pioneer Home Health Care.
About Northern Inyo Healthcare District: Founded in 1946, Northern Inyo Healthcare District features a 25-bed critical access hospital, a 24 hour emergency department, a primary care rural health clinic, a diagnostic imaging center, and clinics specializing in women’s health, orthopedics, internal medicine, pediatrics and allergies, general surgery, colorectal surgery, breast cancer surgery and urology. Continually striving to improve the health outcomes of those who rely on its services, Northern Inyo Healthcare District aims to improive our communities one life at a time. One team, one goal, your health.
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After my recent LONG stays at 3 different hospitals for surgeries,complications and procedures,and then for rehab,physical therapy and getting back on my feet…BY FAR,the best hospital of the three,from nurses,doctors,the therapists,even the nutritionalists and maintenance crews was at Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine…
I hope one of the first things she does is get their website updated to reflect current Covid status. In bold print under their Covid link is: “Status Level as of 2/12/2021: GREEN. Usual staff, usual care….” Hardly. What a huge slap in the face to the staff and providers who are dealing with Covid everyday and horribly misleading to the public.
Yes, thank you Kay . Green or not green doesn’t tell the story. Two recent deaths and seven hospitalizations. Yeah. The hospital is not the County public health department but nevertheless has a role to play in public awareness and education. In the days of Herm Spencer and with Flora Nash as hospital social worker there would have been health fairs and public awareness efforts and information all over the place. Of course with a PH officer who won’t even mandate masks, what are ya gonna do…
Ah, thank you for bringing up Herm. Such a kind person and very much involved with and in touch with his local community. He knew so many people on a first name basis and was frequently out and around in public and very approachable. How many average citizens did he simply greet with a wave and a hello each week? What it difference it made.
Unfortunately you should be questioning her qualifications. Terrible decision.
Also her morals and ethics directly related to how she manages people she doesn’t like.
I’m not getting it. Her qualifications are being disparaged. Why? She has apparently been in this job on an interim basis for almost two years. Do you know something we don’t?
Then her ethics and morals are questioned, insidiously, akin to a gossipy whisper. What is wrong with her ethics? What is wrong with her morals? If you have evidence of immorality why don’t you publish it instead of hiding behind an anonymous hint?
I wouldn’t know this woman from Eve, but it is past time we called out anonymous Internet character assassinations bereft of evidence..
Upon reflection you are correct. There are a lot of issues here besides the fact that she is over paid. Maybe we should look at her track record. Has she brought in any new doctors especially surgeons. What is the staff turnover during her tenure. Has she been able to bring up wages so that the hospital isn’t losing trained and specialized nurses to Mammoth. What about potential nepotism. Lastly what has she done to enforce the current vaccine mandates and prevent outbreak among staff within the hospital.
Concerned, you have my vote if you run for the hospital board. Those are stats I would like to see. I would add one more – is she going to keep wasting money and alienating local residents and potential patients by continuing the ridiculous attempt to push Mammoth Orthopedics and Physical Therapy out of their Bishop office?
Unfortunately the NIH board has enabled every poor administrator and then it costs the district hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of them. What’s worse is that many board members have not finished their terms. They resign before their terms are up allowing the board to pick board members rather than the voters. So when these things aren’t addressed I have little faith that the board with keep the administration accountable.
Im not questioning Ms Davis qualifications, but why is she going to earn 360,000 if the hospital can not pay competitive wages for their staff.
I just hope she can find more doctors to come to our area.
From experience- most employees make competitive wages and many are extremely over paid. Some are possibly under paid.
As far as my gossipy whisper, I’m actually terrified of her and would rather not say facts. She is mean and truly scary when she doesn’t like you. As an employee. She manages by fear.
And I’d have to say that I already go elsewhere For services because of the way I was treated as an employee by her. Not to mention the extreme prices. Now knowing her salary I will take the rest of my medical care to Mammoth.