The former top administrator at hospitals in San Luis Obispo and Gardena has been named CEO of St. John’s hospitals in Oxnard and Camarillo.
Dignity Health leaders announced earlier this month Patrick Caster, who had been serving as interim leader since June, has been named permanent CEO and president for St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John's Hospital Camarillo. Caster succeeds Barry Wolfman who accepted a leadership position with a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.
Caster most recently worked as president and CEO of Dignity Health’s French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. As part of more than 25 years in health care leadership, he also served as chief operating officer for Dignity’s California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“His depth of knowledge in hospital operations, proven leadership and experience managing complex expansion projects made him the top choice,” said Julie Sprengel in a news release. She’s the California region president for CommonSpirit Health, Dignity’s parent company.
Caster also served a short period of time in 2022 as CEO of the Memorial Hospital of Gardena in Los Angeles County. The hospital is part of the Pipeline Health system, which operates four hospitals in California.
Pipeline leaders alleged in a civil action filed in federal bankruptcy court last year that the system paid a $122,598 retention bonus that was dependent on Caster remaining with the system. They said he told a Pipeline leader he was resigning from the hospital for unspecified health reasons less than two weeks after the bonus.
The lawsuit said French Hospital Medical Center immediately announced Caster had been hired as the hospital’s CEO, marking his return to Dignity Health. Pipeline leaders said Caster did not pay back the after-taxes amount of the retention bonus, just over $80,000, as required in his contract.
In the court action, Caster denied and disputed allegations against him. He agreed to pay the hospital $70,000 in a settlement approved in November by the court in Houston. Pipeline filed for Chapter 11 in October 2022 but exited bankruptcy early in 2023 and remains in operation.
The settlement with Caster states the payment is not an admission of any allegations. The CEO and a Dignity Health spokesperson did not respond to inquiries about the court case.
In an earlier phone interview, Caster expressed his excitement at leading St. John’s hospitals in Oxnard and Camarillo. He praised the staff and doctors and described the facilities as “state of the art.”
While hospitals across the nation are closing down birthing units, he said St. John’s in Oxnard is investing in its labor and delivery and is seeing a “robust increase” in births. Earlier this year, Adventist Health Simi Valley closed its birthing unit and county health officials announced Santa Paula Hospital will also close its unit.
Caster said other areas of focus, and possible expansion, at the two St. John’s include radiology, cardiology, neurology and emergency care.
Like virtually all hospitals, St. John’s challenge is filling shortages of nurses and other employees, Caster said.
“One of the main challenges that came out of COVID and remains somewhat persistent is just staffing,” he said, noting the hospitals turned to temporary employees to fill vacancies but want permanent workers. “We want people who are rooted in our communities and have that sense of ownership.”
But progress is being made on the nursing shortage. The hospitals will likely be back to pre-COVID staffing levels by the middle of 2025, Caster said.
Wolfman, Caster’s predecessor, worked for more than two years at St. John’s. Dignity officials said he left in June “to explore an international health care opportunity.” On his LinkedIn site, Wolfman said he is senior executive vice president at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com .
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: CEO announced for St. John's hospitals in Oxnard, Camarillo
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