Oroville Hospital is restructuring its leadership as it works through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, appointing 2 new co-chief medical officers and adding experienced executives to its board of trustees. The hospital has also withdrawn its application for an internal medicine residency program, citing the need to keep resources focused on core patient care during the process.
OROVILLE, Calif. – Oroville Hospital has appointed 2 new Co-Chief Medical Officers and 2 new independent Board members as part of its ongoing restructuring process.
According to Oroville Hospital, Dr. Linda Lay and Dr. Christopher Tonthat began serving as Co-CMOs on Oct. 2. Dr. Lay has more than 15 years of clinical experience caring for patients in the Oroville area, while Dr. Tonthat has more than 10 years of clinical experience serving area patients.
The hospital is consolidating the inpatient and outpatient Chief Medical Officer duties, creating a unified clinical leadership structure. This integrated approach strengthens alignment between inpatient and outpatient services, streamlines decision-making and supports a cohesive strategy for advancing clinical excellence, operational efficiency and improved patient outcomes.
Drs. Lay and Tonthat will share the roles that were previously held by Dr. Matthew Fine, Chief Medical Officer/Director of Patient Safety; Dr. Meghan Shorter, Associate Director of Patient Safety; and Dr. Mark Heinrich, Chief Medical Officer Outpatient Clinics. Drs. Lay and Tonthat will continue to perform their respective clinical duties in addition to their leadership responsibilities, and Dr. Shorter will continue to perform her clinical duties as an Emergency Room physician at the hospital.
The hospital recently appointed 2 respected hospital industry veterans – Michael A. Rembis and James A. Diegel – to serve as independent members of its Board of Trustees. Rembis is a nationally recognized healthcare executive with more than 40 years of experience serving in various hospital leadership roles, including as President and CEO of nonprofit, investor-owned, safety net and faith-based hospitals and health systems in urban, suburban and rural communities across the country.
Diegel has more than 30 years of experience serving as President and CEO and in other senior leadership positions at nonprofit, investor-owned, academic, district and state-owned hospitals and health systems throughout the U.S. The Oroville Hospital Board of Trustees also voted to withdraw the hospital’s application for an Internal Medicine Residency Program from consideration by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
The Board took this action after determining that the Internal Medicine Residency Program would divert resources and funding from the hospital’s core programs and services while it navigates the Chapter 11 process. Any grant money received for the Internal Medicine Residency Program will be returned.
The hospital will continue to provide its wide range of internal medicine and specialty services to meet community demand for safe, high-quality patient care. Oroville Hospital is a community hospital dedicated to providing personalized healthcare to Oroville and the surrounding foothill and valley communities.