Hospital CEO to retire
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 26, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Wayne Memorial President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Paugh poses in the hospital's board room. He has notified the board of his intention to retire at the end of the year.
Bill Paugh, who for the past 15 years has been at Wayne Memorial Hospital's helm, has announced his plans to retire at the end of the calendar year.
A search committee is expected to be appointed to look for a replacement, but before that happens, the hospital board will first have to decide on the direction it wants to see the hospital take, Paugh said.
That decision will steer the course for what the board wants in a new president and chief executive officer, he said.
Although he still enjoys his job, Paugh said, after 42 years, he is ready to do other things -- like spend time with his children and his brand new granddaughter.
"I just would like to travel and be able to enjoy some of the things I have never been able to do while I have been sitting here while I still have my health," he said. "The longest I have ever taken off in vacation in 42 years is two summers ago I did a 10-day thing with my wife on our 15th anniversary."
Paugh, who is about to turn 66, came to Wayne County in 2000 after serving as president of St. Joseph Center for Life in Augusta, Ga.
He received his bachelor's degree in business administration with a specialization in finance in June 1971 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va. He received a master's degree in hospital administration in May 1973 from Duke University.
As president and CEO of Wayne Memorial Hospital, Paugh is responsible for the health care holding company with several subsidiaries including Wayne Memorial Hospital Inc., Wayne Health Enterprises Inc., Wayne Health Physicians Inc. and Wayne Health Foundation Inc. He holds CEO designation and accountability in each subsidiary corporation.
Paugh said he had made his intentions known so far in advance because he wants the hospital board to have as much time as necessary to find and hire the right person to lead the hospital.
The long lead time will allow the board and the medical staff time to gather information about trends and current and future practices in health care.
It is important to look at alternatives and what each would mean for the hospital, he said.
Taking that approach should help the board feel like it is making an informed decision and that it is not being pressured into making a choice, Paugh said.
A downside to a long lead time is people think "you have mentally checked out," and are retired and just sitting there until the end, he said.
"I think folks around here will tell you that is not where I am," he said. "We have projects that we are taking before the board right now to really expand the things that we are doing and meet the needs that we have talked about here for a long time. I think my folks know me well enough to know that I will be engaged until the end."
Hospital attorney Bob Wilson has put together a series of presentations about what other hospitals are doing, a kind of "soups to nuts" approach and what is involved, Paugh said.
The medical staff has identified eight physicians it wants on the "front line" in discussions with the board -- something the board has encouraged, he said.
A smaller group of four doctors and four board members will examine each alternative and what each might require, he said.
Paugh and Becky Craig, hospital chief financial officer, also are on that exploratory committee.
That group will report back its findings to the full board and medical staff.
Paugh said it was and wasn't a difficult decision to retire.
"There is never a good time to say that you want to walk away," he said. "But I see so many of my colleagues continue to work until they lose their health. Then they can't do the things that they have wanted to do.
"I think for me it was a conscious decision of, 'You are at this age now, and the older you get, the more likely you are to have health problems.' It was well thought out. I have not done it on a whim. I am not trying to run from anything."
Health care is changing rapidly and Paugh said he doesn't just want to walk away.
There is a value for people staying involved and being able to comment from the perspective of having watched the changes over 40 years, he said.
"So from that standpoint I don't want to completely disengage," he said. "I don't think I will have to. The things I will miss, gracious, as in any job there are some days that are better than others, but in the end I think the thing that makes this worthwhile is realizing that you are doing this not for your own personal benefit, but what are the needs out there that this community has."
Paugh said he and his wife, Ann, like the Goldsboro community, enjoy the coast and have no plans at present to leave the area.
His son, Andrew, is working on a management track with Avis Budget, while daughter, Mary Elizabeth, is finishing her residency in psychology. She is married to Dr. Kevin Blackmon, a radiologist, and they have a 1-month-old daughter, Neely Elizabeth. They will live in Hartsville, S.C.
Mrs. Paugh is a graduate of Georgia Southern and is a recreation therapist. For a number of years she was involved with continuous care retirement communities, he said.
She is very involved in the Goldsboro community in terms of Alzheimer's, a subject "near and dear to her heart," since her mother and grandfather suffered from the disease, he said.
"I don't have any plans or whatever yet," Paugh said. "I don't have anything lined up to do part-time or whatever. If the wife gets tired of seeing me sitting at the kitchen table, she will probably tell me it's time for me to find something else to dabble in or do one thing or another.
"I really just want to take a little time and like I said, do a little bit of traveling. With a new grandchild, I suspect there will be plenty of time to spoil her."