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Benefis names new CEO

After five months of searching, Benefis Healthcare announced Tuesday that it has hired a new president and CEO.

South Dakota native John H. Goodnow, most recently president of Deaconess Hospital, a 339-bed teaching hospital in Evansville,
Ind., takes the reins Dec. 2.

By BETH BRITTON
Tribune Business Editor

The 50-year-old also was executive vice president and chief operating officer of St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio.

"I look forward to becoming a member of the community. It’s just a wonderful healthcare system, and I think Great Falls is a very
nice community," Goodnow said. "I am real enthused about both the location and the health system; it’s a nice career opportunity
from my perspective."

Goodnow, a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, graduated from the University of California-Davis and has a
master’s in health services administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

He gained administrative experience at hospitals in Scranton, Pa.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Nashville, Tenn.; Jackson, Mo.; Detroit, Mich.,
and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After former President Lloyd Smith announced his retirement, which took effect July 1, Benefis hired the search firm Witt Keefer,
said board member Dean Nelson, board vice chairman and chairman of the search committee.

After gathering comments from the medical community and regional residents, board members presented the search firm with a
profile of what they were looking for in a CEO, Nelson said.

The firm identified 10 potential candidates; the Benefis board whittled that list down to four, who were interviewed in August. Two
returned last month for a second interview.

"Based on collective input, the profile paints a person who would be a leader, who would have experience in developing outreach to
rural communities, and a person with a strong history of positive relationships with medical staff," Nelson said. "John’s background
and experience, his personality and leadership style and personal temperament seemed to fit."

Lowell Johnson of Seattle has been the interim chief executive; he was not in the running for the job.

Goodnow compared the job of hospital CEO to an orchestra conductor.

"It’s not that you know how to play any of the instruments, but as president and CEO, you are there to make sure the different
players are all playing the right part," he said. "Managing a medical center the size and complexity of Benefis is a balancing act, with
lots of different concerns and interests to balance.

"Benefis is a very regional organization," he added. "It serves a big part of Montana, and I think it has the opportunity to become an
even bigger force in the region."

Returning to the West is something he has wanted to do for some time, Goodnow said.

He was born in Mitchell, S.D., and raised in Armour, a small ag community. He will be moving to Great Falls with his fiancée and her
two school-age sons. Two daughters from his first marriage live in Indiana.

"I intend for this to be my last move; I will be there until I retire," Goodnow said. "That’s my intent."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20021030/localnews/399184.html

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