Watch anything from the same vantage point for 35 years and you will recognize how some things change and some things stay the same.

So it has been from my perch, working side by side with some very passionate and compassionate people who believe the community’s health is life’s purpose.

The technology and infrastructure of health care has changed greatly during my career, but the perseverance of those around me has not.

That’s a pretty good thing.

When I became CEO of NorthBay Healthcare I had just turned 33, so everyone was older than me. Now most everyone is younger. That’s partly the reason I decided to announce my retirement next March—to make way for a new era of leadership in Solano County’s only independent, community-based health system.

Some things I considered in setting the timeline for my retirement:

• Several crucial projects are either finished or well underway;
• Membership in the Mayo Clinic Care Network became a reality;
• VacaValley Wellness Center, with a state-of-the-art Cancer Center, was completed; and
• NorthBay HealthSpring Fitness is open.

The luxury of choosing when to start a new chapter in my life is that I will work with my successor on a smooth, positive transition.

I could not be happier with Board of Directors’ decision to choose Konard Jones, president of our hospital division, as NorthBay Healthcare’s new president and CEO effective April 1, 2017. I first met him when he interviewed 21 years ago to become NorthBay’s vice president of Human Resources, and he earned that job. He has a manner about him that perfectly fits NorthBay’s unique culture.

Ten years later Konard left NorthBay to become CEO of a medical supply distribution business. He said he wanted to prepare himself as a general manager in health care and later spent three years as a vice president at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

When the president of NorthBay Healthcare Group decided to retire in early 2015, we began discussions with Konard to return to the fold. Luckily for us, he did. Also effective April 1, President of Ambulatory Services Aimee Brewer will take the reins as president of NorthBay Healthcare Group, overseeing ambulatory care and the hospital division. She is a dynamic young problem-solver who gets things done. She and Konard already have proven they can work together to further the mission of NorthBay Healthcare.

NorthBay will be in good hands.

Gary Passama

President and Chief Executive Officer