Care center hires new administrator

Weeks after its newest administrator resigned, Vashon Community Care has hired a new person to take his place.

Weeks after its newest administrator resigned, Vashon Community Care has hired a new person to take his place.

Holly Shepherd joins the care center from Poulsbo’s Martha & Mary health and rehabilitation center. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare operations and administration, serving in admistration or director positions at multiple health facilities.

Most of her experience has been in operational leadership roles in nonprofit, community-based organizations. In the last 10 years, she has served as administrator in similar settings in Poulsbo and Port Townsend. She recently moved to Seattle from the Kitsap Peninsula.

Vashon Community Care (VCC) board president Susan Hanson said she was “very, very impressed” by Shepherd.

“We did an informal interview and had a long conversation — about an hour and a half — and I was impressed. (Her credentials) are pretty amazing,” she said. “The timing was right for her and for us. We’re thrilled.”

Charlene Boyd, VCC board member and regional administration leader for VCC, agreed that Shepherd’s resume is impressive and fitting for the position at VCC.

“Holly’s vast experience in skilled nursing and post-acute care is nicely complemented by her passion for building community and serving at the local level,” she said in a Monday statement.

Shepherd has degrees in psychology and gerontology from Kansas State University and received her MBA from the University of Washington in June 2015. She is also a U.S. Air Force veteran.

She began her position at VCC on Tuesday.

Her hiring follows the July resignation of Dax Dowling, who was hired as the VCC administrator in March.

VCC also recently hired a medical director amid the island’s changing health care picture. James Buttitta, MD, was hired in July and began his position this month.

“We have a medical director, we have an adminstrator, we’re slowly filling in all the positions that are open,” Hanson said. “We’re very pleased.”