By Colby Dunn
News Writer

With a quick, unanimous vote by Morgan County Hospital Authority members, Brian Riddle became the new Interim CEO of Morgan Memorial Hospital at last Thursday's special called meeting.

The new interim head, a 30-year veteran of hospital leadership, beat out a field of 11 other candidates, only one of whom was cited as a front-running contender, according to authority chairman Terry Evans.
"We had some good candidates, and with the last two it was really close," said Evans. The board deliberated in closed session for just over an hour before offering a three-month contract to Riddle.

Riddle, who currently lives in northwest Atlanta, is coming most recently from a position as CEO of a consultancy group that he terms a "healthcare services firm," a post he took after filling in as 6-month interim CEO at Ville Platte Medical Center in Ville Platte, La.

However, Riddle's most extensive experience comes from Oconee Regional Health Systems in Milledgeville, where he served as CEO for just over 16 years. At that hospital, he oversaw the main 140-bed facility, as well as a smaller, 25-bed critical access facility in Monticello, much like Morgan Memorial.

"He was the CEO of our hospital, and as far as I'm concerned, he did an excellent job. We had an excellent relationship with him," said Joan Minton, county manager in Baldwin County, where Oconee Regional Medical Center is located. "They worked through a lot of issues when he first arrived. They were having trouble keeping the hospital in the black and he was able to turn that around."

Riddle will be coming in on the leading edge of a $35 million building project, so the hospital authority had stated that experience with hospital buildling and renovation would be essential to the job. Riddle, who was at the head of ORHS at through construction of a cancer treatement center and other new facilities, will hopefully be able to weild that experience well in the new position.

He has also registered interest in the permanent CEO position, and, according to Evans, his resume has been given to the team from UGA's Carl Vinson Institute, who will be sifting through potential candidates and culling those who have the necessary experience. They are expected to present viable candidates to the hospital authority board later this year.

Riddle has not officially joined MMH staff yet, as background checks, credit checks and an investigation of his employment history are all still pending. However, MMH officials say they hope to have those completed in the next two weeks.

"I'm excited to come into Morgan Memorial," said Riddle, who attended the lender presentations on Monday with hospital CFO Darlena Kinnett. "I think they've got a really good group of people."

Riddle says he is confident about the expansion and his ability to guide the financing effectively.
"I've been through a lot of hospital expansion projects and I know what is involved in that," he says. "I think it's got to be sized right, both in terms of the physical, as well as the size of the debt."

Physician recruitment has been Riddle's emphasis at other hospitals he's led, and it is a focus he will likely bring to MMH, as well.

"That [physician recruitment] is a big part of the strategic justification for building a new facility," he said. "I think the financial potential of the hospital is largely dependent on expanding."

Riddle has been working in Georgia since 1990 and holds a bachelor's degree in economics from East Texas State as well as a master's in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Tex.
He says he was interested in the position because his daughter and her family live locally and the small-town charm of Madison.

"I like the idea of getting out of Atlanta and getting back into a small town," he said.
Riddle has been in a hospital CEO position since 1974, and Evans, board chairman, says that his extensive experience helped put him over the top.

"The biggest thing is that he has CEO experience that is relatively recent," says Evans. "I think he will be an excellent interim."