Altru plans to rehire after resignation of Chief Financial Officer Doug Arvin

Jan. 24—GRAND FORKS — Altru Health System soon will begin searching for a new chief financial officer after Doug Arvin announced plans to resign effective Feb. 3.

Annie Bonzer, Altru spokesperson, said Arvin announced his resignation to the company two weeks ago.

"It's a bittersweet decision for Doug, I know," she said. "It's mostly a personal choice — he's getting married and his future wife lives in Fargo so he's made the decision to reside there with her."

Arvin has accepted a position at Essentia Health in Fargo, said Bonzer. She did not know the details of the position.

The Herald was told Arvin was not available for an interview before this report was published.

Altru plans to rehire for the position, said Bonzer, with a recruitment search starting in the next couple of weeks. She said Altru anticipates it will take four to six months to fill the position. During the search, Derek Goebel, director of finance, will serve as interim CFO.

Arvin's departure marks the third time since 2020 that Altru's top executive team has experienced a shakeup, though news of his departure was less sudden than the previous two announcements.

Arvin

came to Altru in November 2020,

after

previous CFO Sara Lusignan was fired by the company's board in February

of that year. CEO Brad Wehe was fired at the same time as Lusignan. Both had been in their roles for about a year.

Then, on Feb. 22, 2022, Dr. Steven Weiser, president of Altru Health System,

abruptly left the organization,

days before current CEO Todd Forkel was set to begin. In February, Bonzer told the Herald that it was the Altru Board of Directors' decision for Weiser to leave Altru and was not related to Forkel's arrival.

Dr. Josh Deere was

announced as the new president of the board

in September.

Lusignan and Wehe came to Altru after

longtime CFO Dwight Thompson and CEO Dave Molmen both retired

in 2018. Thompson had served as CFO since 1992, when Altru was known as United Health Services. Molmen became CEO in 2008.

Bonzer said Arvin's departure is not a sign of instability in Altru's current executive team.

"We have a nice, strong executive team in place right now," said Bonzer. "We're confident we'll find another very strong CFO to fill Doug's shoes and our financial and operational situation is actually really quite stable, especially during a time that we know is fairly challenging across the country. We're feeling pretty good about where we're at."