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New CFO tabbed by Barton

Christina Proctor

An internal candidate will fill a vacancy left by the resigniation of Barton Memorial Hospital’s Chief Financial Officer Margaret Lera.

Greg Partamian, the administrator for the Carson Valley Medical Center and the director of Barton’s Management Services Organization, was tapped for the job on Friday by Chief Executive Officer William Gordon.

Lera announced her intentions to leave to the hospital’s board of directors during its meeting last Wednesday. On Thursday, Gordon said a strong internal candidate had already been offered the job.



Gordon said it has been the board’s policy that the hospital’s CEO is in charge of the hiring of the chief financial officer. Partamian’s appointment will not be discussed by the board until its next meeting Feb. 19. He is scheduled to assume his new duties on March 15.

Hal Cole, South Lake Tahoe mayor and member of the hospital board, said he has expressed his interest in changing the hiring policy and bringing the chief financial officer under the direction of the board.



“I’m a relatively new member of the board and I wasn’t here when the present policy was implemented,” Cole said. “I am only one vote out of 14, but I hope that we would have a chance to review this appointment before it becomes final.”

Partamian, 40, received his bachelor’s degree from Occidental College. He said he has been working in the field of hospital finance and management since 1983. He was chief financial officer and then hospital administrator for Bellwood General Hospital, an 85-bed facility in Los Angeles. Partamian said he began work on a master’s of business degree at California State University, Northridge, which he did not complete due to promotions.

Partamian started as administrator of the Tahoe Fracture Clinic in June of 1994. In June of 1996 he started working part time at the Carson Valley Medical Center.

“My wife and I decided that Los Angeles wasn’t the best environment to raise our daughter in, and luckily we found beautiful Gardnerville,” Partamian said. “I feel fortunate that I’m going to get to work with Margaret (Lera) for the next six weeks until she leaves. I’m going to try and learn as many things as I can.”

Gordon said between now and March 15 Partamian will be spending one to two days a week getting acquainted with the hospital and its finances.

“He will see what we currently have in place,” Gordon added. “Of course he will have free rein to make any changes he sees fit.”

The hospital’s budget for the next year was approved at the board’s Wednesday meeting, which Gordon said will make Partamian’s transition even smoother.

“By coming in after the budget has been done I have nine to 10 months to learn the hospital, its expenses and expenditures, before I have to create a budget,” Partamian said. “The present budget is excellent and I think it’s very achievable.”

Gordon said the hospital also is undergoing its annual audit by the auditing and business consulting firm Arthur Anderson.

“Greg will get a chance to go through the process before he actually starts,” Gordon said.

Gordon added that during Lera’s eight-year watch, the firm has never suggested any audit adjustments to the hospital board.

Lera said she will be working as chief operating officer of Olympic Health Management Systems, a health care consulting and insurance claims administration company located in Bellingham, Wash.

Tahoe Daily Tribune E-mail: tribune@tahoe.com

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