Interim Sunshine CEO Randall Kowalke discusses current clinic status

At Tuesday night’s Sunshine Community Health Center board of directors meeting, Randall Kowalke was appointed as interim chief executive after former CEO Melody West was terminated.  At the meeting, Kowalke spoke about rebuilding trust with the staff and the communities that Sunshine serves.

When asked how he plans to go about building trust, Kowalke says he wants more transparency at Sunshine.  One measure that could be coming from the board level is a change to the way grievances are handled, especially when they involve the CEO.

“I know the board is entertaining…a process for grievances that don’t get blocked at the CEO level.”

Some of the criticism that was raised about former CEO West is the handling of employee complaints about Sunshine Medical Director Dr. George Hightower.  Kowalke says that the inquiry concerning Dr. Hightower is still ongoing.

“As of today, he is on paid administrative leave.  Some items are still being looked in to and shaken out.”

While the board will begin searching for a permanent CEO, Kowalke believes there are things that need to be addressed while he is serving on an interim basis, including ensuring compliance with policies and reviewing some of those policies, themselves.  He uses the metaphor of fixing up a car before passing it on.

“If I’m going to pass this used car off to the real CEO some time in the future, it needs to have a clean windshield, the oil changed, and a full tank of gas, not passing it off with brakes that don’t work.”

There is not currently a known timeline for how long the Sunshine board will search for its permanent CEO.