Natividad medical officer selected as interim CEO of Natividad by Board of Supervisors.

Three Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this afternoon to hire physician Charles "Chad" Harris as the interim chief executive officer of Natividad Medical Center, to replace the retiring Gary Gray. Harris was already serving at Natividad as its chief medical officer for quality assurance. 

"I appreciate you all have the confidence in me to fill these very large shoes," Harris said after the vote, referring to his boss and fellow physician Gray. Gray will remain on the job for one more week to aid Harris in the transition.

The three supervisors present on the eve of a holiday weekend—Mary Adams, John Phillips and Wendy Root Askew—met in closed session at 3pm to discuss the terms of Harris' contract, which includes an annual salary of $414,000, 10-percent more than what he was making as a chief medical officer. 

At 3:15, the three emerged from closed session to vote to hire Harris, after Monterey County Counsel Les Girard explained some of the terms of the contract and recommended they vote to approve. Those terms include reassessing the salary amount if a permanent CEO is not selected in six months. Should Harris not apply for the permanent job or not be selected for that position, he will be able to return to his old job.

"I think all of us on the board feel very comfortable with this decision," said Phillips. He noted that Supervisor Chris Lopez, not present in the meeting, served on the interim selection committee with him and was positive about selecting Harris.

Harris has been with Natividad since 2011 when he began working there as a family medicine staff physician. As a chief medical officer for quality assurance he was responsible for quality, patient experience, infection prevention and other areas. In 2018 hew was elected by his peers to serve as chief of staff for two years.