MOSES LAKE — New Samaritan Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Alex Town said it’s up to hospital district officials to deliver on the potential for medical care. 

The new Samaritan Hospital opened in March, following about eight years of planning and construction. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project, and inflation had a serious impact on costs, which led to a construction bond proposal ultimately approved by voters. 

“Back then, we really didn't know if this was going to happen,” Town said. “And to see it happen – it's just breathtaking. And for the community to step up and approve that levy says a lot. That means we, as an organization, need to step up and really ensure that our community is grateful that they approved that levy.” 

Town took over the CEO job in mid-May, following the retirement of former CEO Theresa Sullivan. He was the chief administrative officer and chief financial officer before taking over as CEO. But he never really thought about the possibility of becoming CEO, he said. 

“I’ve aways been supporting the CEO all my career and being a partner and working with the team," he said. "Someone even asked me, ‘Was it your aspiration to be CEO?’ I was, like, ‘Never crossed my mind.’ Because I just felt the focus on doing a good job and working with the team was the critical piece.” 

Town has worked in medical administration for about 25 years, including a temporary job at Samaritan back in the day. His first job was in his hometown of Spokane, he said, and he spent a few months at Samaritan after the company he was working for went through a layoff. From the temp job in Moses Lake, he became the business office manager at TriState Health in Clarkston. 

“I was in that role a couple years, and the CEO asked me to step up and do the CFO role, and I have to laugh because I didn't plan on being the CFO," he said. "In fact, when he asked me about the position, I asked him if he wanted to post it and make sure he had the best candidate. I was going to a conference, and I said, ‘Well, we can talk about it when I come back.’ While I was at the conference, he announced that I was the new CFO. I didn't know that.” 

He learned a lot in Clarkston, he said. 

“All in all, at was at Tri-State for 15 years. It was great – it really helped me here, because it helped me understand some of the clinics and the financials of an organization," Town said. "I will say Samaritan is definitely a much larger, more robust organization.”   

It was Sullivan who suggested that he think about taking the chief administrative officer job, something he hadn’t really considered. 

“I was having fun because there was so much growth happening," he said. "It was really neat seeing this organization become the organization it is today." 

Taking the CEO job required some thought, he said, but in the end, he thought continuity was important. Samaritan has seen a lot of growth, he said, and wanted that to keep going. 

“Bringing in somebody new brings in the higher risk of change in culture, change in leadership, change in priorities," he said. "I'm not saying it does, but (there’s a) higher probability. Because they don't understand what brought us to this point, the story behind how Samaritan evolved, and how the hospital came to be. So that's why I took the job, because I wanted to continue the work that Teresa and I did, and build upon that.”   

Samaritan is working with the medical school at Washington State University to establish a residency program in Moses Lake.  

“To be able to provide that program here and bring doctors here to learn medicine, practice medicine," Town said. "It moves the organization to become a teaching institution, and it elevates the care we provide to this region."  

He added that some of the doctors trained through the residency will want to stay in the area. 

“And that's just one step,” Town said. “We built a new hospital, and now we have the ability to start focusing on really developing our medical staff, bringing new service lines, building depth with our current physicians, and then you know other opportunities that might come our way as well.” 

Although some of that will take a while, he said, because Samaritan staff is still getting used to the new facility. 

“When you move into a new house, there are things you still have to work out,” he said. “We’re still working out those quirks. We’ve got to allow the team to get settled in before we start focusing on new things. There are a lot of things we’re still learning.” 

    Alex Town, now chief executive officer at Samaritan Healthcare, signs the last beam to be put into place for the framing of the new hospital in 2023. The hospital opened in early March, and Town became CEO in mid-May.
  

    Samaritan Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Alex Town on lunch break at the hospital cafeteria.