MOSES LAKE - Joe Sharp was hired as the interim chief executive officer at Samaritan Healthcare.

Board members voted to hire Sharp at a special meeting Wednesday. Sharp is the former CEO of Capital Medical Center in Olympia. He will start work Aug. 20, said Julie Weisenberg, the board member who's in charge of the CEO search.

Sharp will replace Andrew Bair, who resigned in June after some members of the medical staff took a vote of no-confidence.

Sharp said he worked as an administrator for Hospital Corporation of America, which owned Capital Medical Center at the time, and was in charge at the Olympia hospital for eight years. After he retired he was asked to work as an interim, which he did for a year. Currently he's on the hospital's board of directors.

He liked the interim work, he said, and when the job at Capital Medical Center ended he talked to the Washington Hospital Association about other opportunities. That's where he learned about Moses Lake.

He visited Samaritan and liked what he found. "I was really impressed." Samaritan is a good facility with up to date equipment, he said. "It impressed me more than I was expecting. I feel very fortunate to be the interim there."

Sharp said he isn't interested in the permanent job, but will remain as long as the board wants his services.

Weisenberg said the board will write a job description, then hire a search agency to recruit and screen candidates. That process will begin right away, she said.

Board members are looking for about five candidates, which they would cut to two or three. Those candidates would be brought to town for interviews, she said.