The chair at the head of Okeston's table.
Pellow & Strand's proposal to lead the search for Okeston Health's next chief executive. Twenty weeks from your first meeting with us to the board's vote, across eleven hospitals and one board.
Daniel retires on June 30. The board has asked for someone who can hold eleven hospitals as one.
This is the charge your board passed in September, and what three of you told us when we called.
The Board will appoint a successor to the President and Chief Executive Officer, whose retirement takes effect June 30, 2027.
The successor must lead all eleven hospitals as one system, and must keep emergency care open at Kilby North and Linmoor.
A Search Committee of five trustees will run the process and bring no fewer than two finalists to the full Board.
The Board will engage an outside search firm, and will vote on the appointment no later than April 30, 2027.
The last time we did this was 2010. None of us were on the board.Margaret, Board Chair
Our physicians will decide whether they trust this person in the first month.Dr. Anand, Chief Physician Executive
If a name leaks in February, two of our hospital presidents start taking calls.Lena, Head of People
Eleven people at this table will each picture a different chief executive.
Tap a seat to hear that trustee. Every voice you add pulls on the profile of the person we go and find. This is the first thing we'd do in week 2, one conversation per seat.
From 312 conversations to the three people your board meets.
Every search starts wide and narrows on what the board says it can't do without. Switch the must-haves and watch the long list, the shortlist and the finalists change.
What the board can't do without
Each switch removes anyone who doesn't have it.
The finalists
Coded as the committee would see them before names are shared in week 10.
Illustrations. These profiles are invented for this proposal and describe no real person.
When each cut happens
From 312 approached
Codes only
Names to the committee
Names to the full board
Thursday, April 15
Twenty weeks, one seat at a time.
Twenty weeks, one seat at a time.
From kickoff to a year after the new chief executive starts.
The search is twenty weeks. Our work runs to June 2028 because the guarantee and the first-year coaching do. Bars you switch off in the fee fade here too.
The red point is the board vote. Every date assumes we start on Monday, November 30, 2026.
Five people sign this. Each has a different question.
Each chapter answers one of you, with something to try, so nobody needs a call to find their answer.
Who knows, and when?
Names stay inside the committee until the finalists. Hospital presidents hear before staff, and staff hear before the press. Step through the search and see exactly who knows what.
How much of our time does this take?
Five meetings can't move. The rest are yours to keep or drop. Each trustee sees their hours and the month that asks the most of them.
Will our physicians trust the pick?
Trust starts before the finalists exist. Clinicians speak into the profile in week 2 and 3, and meet the three finalists in week 14. Choose how far in you want them.
How do I hand over without lingering?
You leave on June 30 either way. What's open is how many weeks you and your successor overlap. Drag it and see the start date, the risk, and when the guarantee ends.
What happens to our internal candidates, and if it fails?
Internal candidates go through the same process as everyone else, and nobody leaves it without a plan. Tell us how many might apply.
One fixed fee. Every line can come out on its own.
The search itself is the same in every version. What you choose is how much of the work around it we carry.
The terms, in plain words.
It's set today and doesn't move with the salary you agree. We have no reason to push the package up.
Travel is billed monthly with receipts and capped at $18,000 for the whole search.
If the new chief executive leaves or is asked to leave within a year of starting, we run the search again for expenses only.
We won't recruit anyone from Okeston Health for two years after the vote, for any client.
Candidate names reach the committee in week 10 and the board in week 13. Nothing with a name on it is emailed.
If the board halts the search, you pay installments already due and nothing after.
We advise and we never vote. If we think you're about to make a mistake, we'll say so before the vote, in the room.
Iona Pellow leads the search herself and attends every committee meeting.
What we haven't settled yet
Would the board consider a leader from outside health care?
Our assumption until you tell us. Hospital and health system leaders only. Widening it adds about three weeks.
Does Daniel sit on the Search Committee?
Our advice. He briefs the committee and meets the finalists, and he doesn't vote. Successors start stronger that way.
Is June 30 fixed?
Why it matters. If Daniel can stay to September, a 24 week search lets us approach leaders with longer notice periods.
The chair stays empty until April. The search can start on November 30.
Approve below and Iona Pellow calls you within a day to book the kickoff with the full board.
Rather talk first? Iona Pellow, lead partner, 555 0142.