St. Joe’s CEO retiring after 18 months

St. Joseph Regional Medical Center’s CEO is retiring after being in the top position at the area’s largest hospital for 18 months.

Tim Trottier’s last day on the job will be Thursday, said Sam Skinner, a spokeswoman for the hospital, in an email Tuesday announcing Trottier’s departure.

Jerry Dooley arrived at St. Joe’s on Tuesday to be interim CEO while a national search is conducted for a new CEO to replace Trottier, Skinner said.

Dooley has been an interim CEO for hospitals under the umbrella of LifePoint Health, the owner of St. Joe’s, for more than a decade, most recently at Community Medical Center in Missoula, Mont.

Trottier, 56, joined St. Joe’s as its CEO in January 2020, bringing more than 20 years of experience as a hospital leader to the position. Before that, he had been at Spring View Hospital, another LifePoint Health facility in Lebanon, Ky., where he had served as CEO since 2014.

He faced a number of challenges during his tenure at St. Joe’s.

COVID-19 cases surfaced in the region in the spring of 2020, and the hospital was in contract talks with its nurses who had voted to form a union in April 2019.

“We are grateful for (Trottier’s) leadership and service — especially throughout the pandemic, which has arguably been the most challenging situation the healthcare industry has faced,” Skinner said.

The hospital is proud of everything its teams accomplished with Trottier at the helm, she said.

“As we continue to build on that momentum, we remain committed to our employees, providers, patients and the communities we serve,” Skinner said.

While the hospital cared for patients suffering from COVID-19, its administration was in discussions with Teamsters Local 690, the labor group representing the nurses. Those negotiations resulted in a contract that was ratified by the nurses in May.

The agreement gives nurses a pay increase every six months for its three-year duration after a wage freeze since 2018, when the hospital standardized pay based on experience.

At the same time, it gives nurses a say in staffing levels, an issue that was key to the nurses, but does not guarantee ratios of nurses to patients.

Trottier was also overseeing a remodel of St. Joe’s 20-bed inpatient mental health unit and an effort to recruit more behavioral health providers.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.