After weeks of speculation and rumors, Brownfield Regional Medical Center CEO Bob Pascasio officially announced his resignation to the BRMC Board of Directors on Monday, November 28 in a special called meeting of the board.
As wheels had already been turning, Board President Brian Paiva announced Chuck Norris as the new Interim CEO while the search for a permanent replacement for Pascasio begins.
Paiva introduced Norris to the staff of BRMC in a special meeting on Tuesday morning.
Norris is a retired hospital CEO, but has come out of retirement for the interim position. Paiva told the staff, “I told everyone that I am going to love introducing ‘Chuck Norris’ as the new BRMC CEO (referencing the famous martial arts specialist and actor by the same name.). He is going to be our new Interim CEO while the search goes on. We have retained Bob for as long as is needed while we search. He and Chuck will be working together to make decisions on how we move forward from here. We need everyone to be on board. There will be some significant changes coming. We need to put everything that has happened behind us and start moving forward.”
Paiva stated that CEO searches take time and the board would not be rushing this process.
Norris has been in healthcare for 44 years. He retired about a year ago. He started his career in healthcare in Graham. He has been in several hospitals through the years and brings a good track record with him.
Norris stated, “There is one word I think we can use today. The word is ‘trust.’ That is the word that will keep this hospital going and growing. I feel like we are in good shape, but we will be looking through everything to determine exactly what kind of financial shape we are in.
“From what I have seen, it appears that everyone genuinely wants to be here and they want to take good care of our patients every single day. And that is our job. That is why we are here. My mission statement is that I want to help people and that is who we all are. We have to build trust in each department and build trust in the hospital.”
Norris stated he was hopeful that the hospital staff could get the hospital on track to be one of the best in the area. “The first thing I saw when I walked in were plaques where this hospital was named a top 100 hospital back in 2004 and 2005. That is where we want to be again.”
Norris also stated he has plans to meet with each department head and learn more about the staff and get to know each one better.
Paiva also introduced new Director of Nursing Janay Wright. Paiva stated, “We are glad that she is here and we ask that all of you work together with her to right some things that need to be corrected. I think it is a positive thing to have her here and get things moving in the right direction.”
All changes are effective immediately.
