SALINAS, Calif. -- Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System named its new president/CEO after a five-month-long nationwide search.
Matt Gerlach will take the seat, making $450,000 a year.
With more than 30 years of hospital administration experience and community involvement, SVMH said Gerlach should fit right in.
"There's been a lot of positive momentum here and this is a perfect time for a new, permanent leader to come on board and take it to the next level," said Adrienne Laurent, senior administrative director for SVMH.
The next level may include repairing part of its image after the partly public-funded hospital made national headlines a few years ago.
In December 2010, about 200 workers were laid off. Then about five months later, its former CEO Sam Downing received a retirement package worth nearly $4 million.
The Los Angeles Times reported that made him the highest paid public hospital official in the state, prompting a state audit.
The hospital didn't want to address the past, but said SVMH is moving in a positive direction.
Laurent said Gerlach's salary is comparable to what hospitals of similar size pay their CEOs.
She said Gerlach's pension and health benefits won't be any different from what non-union hospital workers get.
Gerlach starts working as president/CEO late next month.
