The El Camino Hospital Board of Directors Aug. 25 unanimously appointed former UC San Francisco Medical Center executive Tomi Ryba the hospital’s new president and CEO.
Ryba, who served most recently as president of United Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., and senior vice president of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, will assume her new position Oct. 5. The board selected her from among three finalists.
Ryba succeeds former CEO Ken Graham. Directors voted 3-2 in February not to renew Graham’s contract when it expired June 30.
Prior to her position at United Hospital, Ryba acted as chief operating officer at UCSF, where she led a five-year turnaround in operations, bringing the net income from a loss position to a $100 million operating margin, and where she helped lead a master-site development process that included a new Women’s, Children’s and Cancer hospital, a $1.5 billion project. The San Francisco Business Times recognized Ryba as one of the Most Influential Women in San Francisco in 2007 and 2008.
“Ryba has a legacy of operationally strengthening and developing hospitals, ultimately taking them to the next level of revenue growth and excellence in patient care,” said John Zoglin, chairman of the El Camino Hospital and District Board of Directors. “She has demonstrated rigorous fiscal responsibility and strategic execution, having led performance improvement plans in three of her former positions while simultaneously developing service lines and establishing new programs and facilities to improve patient care and drive volume.”
Ryba said El Camino Hospital has “a reputation of providing exceptional quality and service,” with a commitment to improving the health status of the community.
“It is a privilege to carry on the tradition of excellence and to position the hospital for health-reform mandates that will influence how care is organized in coming years,” she said.
The new CEO appointment comes as El Camino Hospital celebrates its 50th year in operation. El Camino admitted its first patients Sept. 1, 1961.
According to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Ryba will earn an annual salary of $695,000, exceeding Graham’s $642,640.
Ned Borgstrom, who previously served as interim CEO and CFO, will remain El Camino’s interim CFO until a permanent CFO is named.
For more information, visit www.elcaminohospital.org.
