Larry Parker

Larry Parker, who serves on both the Powell Valley Healthcare and Powell Hospital District Board of Trustees, announced his retirement at their regular meeting Monday.

“I just need to move on, and we need to have new people on the board. I’ve enjoyed serving, but I’m 78 years old,” Parker said in an interview on Tuesday.

Parker said he’d been floating the idea of retiring from the board earlier this year. Powell Valley Healthcare CEO Terry Odom asked if he would continue serving while the hospital completed the process to become an affiliate of Billings Clinic, which was finished in January and required a lot of coordination with the trustee boards.

Parker has served on the board for nearly 10 years. In 2010, he was asked to fill a vacant position and served out the remaining two years of that term. He then was elected to four-year terms in 2012 and 2016. His current term expires at the end of this year.

Parker served during a turbulent time at the hospital. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, following numerous malpractice suits related to former PVHC surgeon Dr. Jeff Hansen. PVHC agreed to pay $3 million in a settlement and spent roughly $1 million in attorney fees. The nonprofit organization came out of bankruptcy in March 2018.

Parker called it the “perfect storm” and praised Odom’s leadership in seeing the hospital through the crisis and setting it on a more solid financial path. 

“It’s been a pleasure to work with her,” he said of Odom.

Now with the Billings Clinic affiliation, Parker said, PVHC can offer more services to the community.

Parker leaves as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. He commended the hospital in its response to the crisis. Across the country, as well as at a nursing home in Worland, cases of the disease have led to deaths among elderly patients. PVHC immediately shut down visitation at The Heartland and care Center. Neither facility has had any confirmed cases, Parker pointed out.

“That’s not luck. It’s a lot of hard work throughout the entire hospital, from the administration down through the staff,” he said.

As a board member, Parker said he worked to implement the services of a company that provides online training for board members. It helps trustees understand the requirements of governance of an organization like PVHC.

Parker had previously worked for Pacific Bell, a utility company in California, as a regional manager, and he said even a large utility company doesn’t have the complexities of the healthcare business.

“I don’t think people realize how complex, as a business, a hospital is,” he said.

Parker’s last meeting was Monday, and the board is now tasked with filling the vacant position. It will need to be advertised, and any candidates will need to be interviewed.

Parker suggested that interested candidates come to some board meetings and get to know what’s involved with the position. That would also allow the other board members and hospital administration to determine the prospective candidate’s areas of expertise.

“We want to have an opportunity to find people who are interested and willing to serve on the board,” he said.

If the person appointed to the Powell Hospital District Board wants to serve beyond the end of the year, they will need to formally file for the seat in August and stand for election in November against any other candidates who file. The seven members of the district board also serve on the separate-but-related PVHC board, which includes three doctors.

Parker’s wife, Karen Zaninovich Parker, is the director of The Heartland, PVHC’s assisted living facility. Larry Parker said she plans to continue in that position and won’t be joining him in his retirement for the time being.

“She’s used to me retiring; I’ve done it a few times now,” he said with a laugh.