HELENA — On Thursday, Intermountain announced its new interim chief executive officer (CEO), turning a new leaf for the nonprofit.
Their new interim CEO, Wesley Taylor, started on Monday and previously worked as a CEO at Ashley Regional Medical Center (ARMC) in Utah and as a Chief Operating Officer at another Acute Care Hospital in Arizona.
"As I've already been with the team for the last five days, I see hope. I see hope in their eyes and commitment to doing what they need to do and what we need to do to move forward, so that's just awesome," Taylor said.
He got into contact with Intermountain through SoundMind Leadership, which recently started a contract with the organization to work together in building a thriving company culture.
Chief Communications Officer Erin Benedict said, "We have cultural struggles right now, as many organizations do. We are facing a staffing shortage, and we saw this as an opportunity to take a hard look at our culture and to grow our leaders, and to work with an outside organization that could help us do that."
In September, Intermountain had to scale back its residential program. Initially announcing the closure of the program, but then announcing one cottage would be able to remain open.
In the Helena facility, children receiving care went from 16 to seven, and the staff working with the program reduced from 55 to 36.
In October, the Intermountain Board of Directors relieved the interim CEO, Gary Larcenaire, of his duties.
"I would say the word we've said is it's been a bit 'funky,' and let's own it because it has. But that being said, it's an intentional choice on how we move forward. That we choose to have selfless goals and that we choose to make decisions that are for the long-term benefit of the organization," said Taylor.
A statement from Intermountain's President of the Board of Directors, Tim Lanham, said they are lucky to have Taylor "with his history of improving culture, building community and leading organizations to become great places to work."
Last week, Intermountain held the Festival of Trees, which is its biggest fundraiser of the year. While they are still totaling the amount raised, staff say earlier indicators point to it being a success.
Intermountain hopes to find a new permanent CEO within four to six months.
