Salinas Valley Health President/CEO Pete Delgado tells his staff he's stepping down.

After 10 years at the helm, Salinas Valley Health President/CEO Pete Delgado is resigning his post at the nonprofit health care system, he announced this morning, Monday, Oct. 9, in a memo sent to all SVH staff. The resignation is effective "at a date to be determined."

Delgado opened the memo saying it was "with a multitude of emotions" that he made the announcement. "This decision has been made with careful consideration and is accompanied by tremendous gratitude for my tenure of ten enriching years with this exceptional organization," he said.

"The realization that there is never a 'perfect' time to step away from a role I love has weighed heavily on my decision," he said. "Yet I am confident that change, while challenging, is an opportunity for growth and renewal for both the organization and myself."

Delgado was hired to what was then called the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System—a special district governed by a board of directors elected by voters—in March 2013, after the first choice of the board of directors dropped out.

His resume included serving as CEO of the Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Healthcare Network, as well as Kaiser hospitals in San Rafael and Santa Rosa, and as CEO and COO at hospitals in Texas.

It's been an eventful decade for Delgado, navigating issues like SVH losing its attempt to gain trauma center status to the County of Monterey's Natividad hospital, occasional labor disputes, a potential merger of SVMHS and Natividad that never happened, followed by teaming up with Montage Health on the Monterey Peninsula as its business partner in the Aspire Health Plan, a Medicare insurance plan created by Montage in 2013.

The biggest challenge was navigating Covid, during which Delgado decided to keep all employees on the payroll even as non-Covid visits declined, sending them into the community to help people in need. SVH was early in getting vaccines distributed to the community. There were moments of controversy, including when nurses demonstrated outside of the hospital demanding SVH do a better job of protecting them from Covid at work.

More recently, SVH has been in a standoff with Anthem Blue Cross after contract negotiations failed to reach an agreement on reimbursement costs. The result threw SVH patients out of network with Anthem. 

How Delgado will be replaced is yet to be determined, according to a SVH spokesperson.