News Release

July 1 , 2008

Media Contact:
Christina Chavira
Communications Specialist
530.332.5589 - office; 530.588.4411 - cell
christina.chavira@enloe.org

Enloe names vice president of physician operations

CHICO, Calif., July 1, 2008 – Aaron Wood has been named as Enloe Medical Center’s Vice President of Physician Operations. Responsibilities of this new role include managing the business operations of physician contracts; managing hospital-based physician relationships and supervising Enloe’s hospital-based clinics and hospital-physician joint ventures. Wood will also work closely with Enloe to develop a physician strategic plan that will include recruitment, medical staff development and practice management. Wood’s first day of work was June 2.

“We’re happy to have Aaron’s talents here at Enloe,” said Mike Wiltermood, Enloe’s Chief Operating Officer. “I expect his leadership and collaborative abilities will be great assets to our community.”

With many communities facing an impending shortage of physicians, it is critical for Enloe to establish a common vision for our physician strategy and consider the range of alignment structures available to hospitals and physicians in California. The goal is to enhance physician recruitment and retention to meet the changing health care needs of the community.

Wood joins Enloe from Biggs-Gridley Memorial Hospital, where he was Interim Administrator for the past year. Prior to that, he served as CEO at two hospitals in Colorado, where he was recognized as the 2006 Colorado Regent’s Healthcare Executive of the Year and received the 2006 Phillips County Economic Development Council Collaboration Award. In other health care leadership experience, Wood was Assistant Administrator at Coulee Community Hospital in Grand Coulee, Washington.                                 

Wood received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., and his Master of Public Administration degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Toledo in Ohio. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a former Trustee of the Colorado Hospital Association Board of Directors.

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Enloe Medical Center is a local, nonprofit health care organization. For more information, please call 530/332-7300 or visit us online at http://www.enloe.org.   Enloe Medical Center is located at 1531 Esplanade Chico, Calif.  95926.