Board approval set for Thursday

Mick Brant, chief executive officer for Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend, VT, will be the new administrator of Gothenburg Memorial Hospital.

Pending approval by GMH board members Thursday, Brant will begin duties on Nov. 19.

The 45-year-old said he and his wife, Laura, are excited about the new job and moving to Gothenburg in early November.

“We fell in love with Gothenburg, and with all the people we met,” he said about a recent visit to town. “And the hospital is spectacular.”

Laura is a radiology technologist and has directed diagnostic imaging at a couple of hospitals, he said.

Another reason Brant said the couple wanted to move to Gothenburg is to be closer to family members who live in Yuma, CO.

They especially want grandparents and other relatives to better know the couple’s 18-month-old son, Caden.

Brant has administrated a 185-person staff at Grace Cottage Hospital for nearly five years.

The critical access hospital is a 19-bed inpatient facility for acute and rehabilitative care with a 24-hour emergency department for critical care treatment, a hospice suite, rehabilitation department, laboratory and radiology departments and a pharmacy.

At GMH, he will manage a staff of 100 people.

Brant said he brings vision to the job and relationship-building collaboration with staff, patients and the community.

“I’m more about strategic iniatives and positive organization for the future,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges facing small hospitals like GMH, Brant said, is uncertainty about health-care reform. Payment reform and population health management are driving that reform, he noted.

Dr. Carol Shackleton, who headed a four-member search committee to find a new administrator, said there were about 40 applicants for the position.

Shackleton said she liked Brant after the first interview.

“He’s from a rural community and understands the rural lifestyle,” she said, noting that Brant’s community values and mores will mesh well with the way Gothenburg functions.

“He’s also progressive and technologically savvy in terms of the Internet and other social media,” Shackleton said, noting that Brant has installed electronic medical records which GMH plans to install.

The contract of the hospital’s former administrator was terminated in February. Kayleen Dudley is acting interim CEO and will work closely with Brant as he makes the transition.

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