Peacemaker retires; Gary Wilde ends nearly two decades as Ventura hospital CEO
It was war. Doctors were suing Community Memorial Hospital in a power struggle with longtime CEO Michael Bakst. Some were taking patients to other hospitals.
In claims that were challenged by hospital leaders, the doctors alleged administrators rigged a medical election, cut down physician authority on policies affecting patient care and blocked some staff members from practicing at the Ventura hospital.
Desperate to end the conflict, the hospital’s board of trustees asked Bakst to resign in October 2003. Four months later, they hired a new CEO. Gary Wilde, 48, of Ventura, had worked at Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara County for more than two decades, building a reputation as a collaborator.
“He blew everybody else out of the water,” said accountant Gary Wolfe, a board trustee then and now. “We did a nationwide search and picked the guy who lived 6 miles from the hospital.”
The guy became the face of the nonprofit health care system for nearly 19 years. He guided it through a $310 million hospital construction project, helped deal with COVID-19 outbreaks and absorbed criticism for malpractice lawsuits involving a neurosurgeon now imprisoned in Ohio.
Wilde, 67, retires Sunday. He planned to chat with patients and workers on the last of his nearly daily rounds at the six-story hospital. On Monday, his responsibilities will be assumed by Mick Zdeblick, formerly the leader of Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Oregon.
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“The new (CEO) is going to have some big shoes to fill,” said Matt LaVere, the county supervisor who was Ventura’s mayor when the new Community Memorial Hospital opened in 2018. “Gary was always engaged in the community. He was always so great to work with.”
Doctors and other hospital leaders said Wilde’s most important contribution came in turning division and conflict into unity.
Hospital investigations later brought allegations of improper gifts given by Bakst to doctors and a coverup initiated by others, with all accusations denied. But when Wilde was hired, the controversy centered on the physicians' revolt and the extreme step of suing the hospital.
“It was a very dysfunctional relationship,” said Dr. Jim Hornstein, a family doctor and part of the Community Memorial medical staff for more than 30 years. He credited Wilde for reaching out to the medical community and finding compromise.
“Everybody gives up a little bit for the common good," Hornstein said. "Gary very much believed that health care is a team sport, and you don’t just have one group of people involved.”
The doctors' lawsuit against the hospital was settled. A $250,000 medical staff bank account that had been seized by the hospital was returned. Physicians were given more authority and met regularly with Wilde. Wounds began to heal.
“It was a long time, even years,” Wilde said of the process. “The thing that was most difficult was for people to be able to forgive each other. It was civil war.”
Ushering in change
Wilde is a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served in local and regional leadership roles. He grew up in Van Nuys. His father was an electrical engineer. His mother was an animation artist for Disney, working on projects including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
Once a high school fullback and a shot putter in track, he envisioned a career in chemical engineering but was drawn to hospital administration by the smorgasbord diversity of a job that includes construction, architecture, law and medicine. He worked at Cottage for 22 years, spending the last several years as chief operating officer and second in command.
When he came to Community Memorial, the change in leadership was dramatic, said Mike Bradbury, former county district attorney and a longtime board member for the health system.
“It wasn’t my way or the highway,” Bradbury said. “He was open to suggestions. He brought you inside the tent. You felt you were really part of the decision-making process instead of being told what to do.”
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What was once primarily a hospital became a health care system. A network of clinics was expanded from five centers to 19, now receiving 300,000 patient visits a year. The hospital merged with then independent Ojai Valley Community Hospital in a decision that Wilde said saved the Ojai site from dying “on the vine.”
There has been controversy and criticism too.
More than 20 patients sued Dr. Aria Sabit and the hospital alleging injuries, sometimes crippling or fatal, were caused by Sabit's spinal fusion surgeries. Sabit practiced at the hospital for 17 months before being fired in 2010 by the surgeon who employed him.
The California Medical Board launched an investigation into the surgeries at Community Memorial’s request. Sabit moved his practice to Michigan where allegations emerged that he would insert unnecessary devices into patients or submit bills for using fusion devices during surgeries when he did not.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud. He admitted he had a financial stake in a company that made the spinal devices he used in surgery, creating an incentive to perform procedures. He was sentenced to 235 months in prison and is at Federal Correctional Institution, Elkton, Ohio.
The lawsuits, which were settled, alleged Community Memorial didn’t act quickly or aggressively enough to stop Sabit. Wilde denied the accusation but also aired his frustrations that Sabit continued to practice even after the California Medical Board knew of the allegations.
“I regret that it happened,” he said. “It was just a bad thing.”
Wilde’s wages have also attracted attention. Tax records from 2020 show he made a base salary of $731,386 with benefits, bonuses and other compensation raising the total to $990,407.
The numbers fluctuate each year. In 2015, tax forms showed Wilde's total compensation reached a stunning $5.6 million. Hospital leaders said the data was skewed because it included $4.2 million from a retirement fund that was accumulated over his tenure with the health system.
Richard Rush, outgoing chair for the health system’s board, said the pay is in line with what other hospitals across the nation give to its leaders. He said Wilde has turned down wage increases.
An unfunded mandate
To many, Wilde’s legacy is the $310 million hospital that opened in 2018, seven years after construction started. The project was pushed by changing seismic standards that forced hospitals across the state to build new patient care structures.
“We literally had to confront the reality that either we build a hospital or close our doors,” Wilde said.
Funding was complicated by rejections of financial help from the Federal Housing Authority. Leaders considered building a smaller hospital but opted to build a 250-bed facility and take on more financial risk by obtaining its own bonds with the help of the city of Ventura.
“This was an unfunded state mandate,” he said. “It was a Herculean effort.”
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Memorial doctors and administrators, including Wilde, huddled in a board room, strategizing about whether to cancel elective procedures because of the virus.
A doctor in the meeting later tested positive for the virus. Several other participants became infected, too. One of them was hospitalized and ended up in intensive care.
“That’s when it became live for me,” Wilde said, noting the risks of COVID-19 were largely unknown. Fear was rampant. The state was considering sending California National Guard troops to hospitals. There was speculation refrigerated trucks would be needed to expand hospital morgues.
"It was really unworldly," he said. "We kept our heads and got through it."
Now, Wilde said, Community Memorial and other hospitals are adapting to the likelihood that each winter will bring more COVID-19 patients into emergency rooms.
Delayed farewell
Wilde once envisioned retiring at 65. The plans were delayed by the pandemic and bond refinancing for the hospital construction project. Last year, he announced his intention to leave.
He may teach seminars in hospital administration. He may get more involved in humanitarian missions related to the church. He and Cheryl, his wife of 44 years, will take a month or two to figure out what they want. He sees retirement as an opportunity to try new things.
"I love my career but it hasn't been my life," he said.
Hornstein, the family doctor, said Wilde will be remembered for his honesty, for sharing information transparently and most of all changing ingrained division and anger into a team.
"That is a high legacy," he said.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Community Memorial CEO Gary Wilde retires after nearly 19 years
