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The El Camino Hospital board of directors voted unanimously over the weekend not to renew the five-year contract with hospital president and CEO Tomi Ryba. Ryba, who took the top role at the hospital in October 2011, will continue to serve as CEO through the end of October.
The board met on Saturday, Aug. 27, for a hastily convened closed session meeting to discuss Ryba’s contract, performance evaluation and “related matters.” Ryba, along with board member Jeffrey Davis, did not attend the special meeting, which was announced just 24 hours prior.
Ryba, who also serves as a member of the hospital board, was “in agreement” with the board’s decision, according to a hospital press release sent out Monday.
The board was originally scheduled in June to approve Ryba’s new base salary and salary range, which typically includes a bonus of up to 45 percent, based on her performance. Her 2015 salary was $800,300. However, the board delayed its decision in June without commenting.
In a statement, hospital board president Neal Cohen said Ryba helped to develop strong partnerships with community leaders, organizations, physicians and donors, and worked collaboratively to ensure that the hospital will continue to meet the needs of the community.
During her tenure as CEO, El Camino Hospital took on several ambitious projects. The hospital recently finished upgrading to an electronic medical records system, finalized plans to expand the hospital’s Mountain View campus, and announced plans to purchase land for a new hospital outside of the district in South San Jose, with the aim to expand El Camino’s presence in the Bay Area.
Ryba also focused on raising awareness about mental health conditions in order to ease the stigma associated with them, and finding better ways to deliver mental health care through the hospital’s services, according to a hospital press release.
Shortly after Ryba arrived in 2011, one of the hospital’s unions started working on a ballot initiative to restrict executive compensation at El Camino, a reaction to cuts to hospital workers’ benefits. Measure M passed in 2012 and was the subject of a lawsuit that was resolved when the SEIU agreed not to defend it in court after hospital officials acquiesced to concessions in contract negotiations.
“It has been a privilege to serve as president and CEO of El Camino Hospital,” Ryba said in a statement. “We have advanced patient quality, secured the organization’s financial viability and increased community benefits to the residents of the region.”
Ryba, who could not immediately be reached for comment, will pursue other health care opportunities, said Jennifer Thrift, a hospital spokeswoman.
The hospital board established a committee to begin the search for an interim CEO, and will simultaneously start a national search for a new president and CEO of the hospital.
