The Regional West board of directors has announced the hiring of Ned Resch as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Resch will assume leadership duties on March 10. He succeeds Mel McNea, MHA, who has served as Regional West’s President and CEO for the past two years.
Mr. Resch’s career in healthcare began in 2002 as an Environmental Service Associate in a busy emergency department at Intermountain Healthcare. There, he spent over five years in both clinical and non-clinical positions before leaving to attend graduate school in 2007. Resch then spent seven years with the Veterans Healthcare System, where he worked in multiple positions of increasing responsibility and leadership across the country and in many large hospital systems.
Since 2016, Resch has worked for Banner Health in their rural market. He oversaw medical group operations in Wyoming and California and, in 2019, was promoted to CEO of Banner’s Platte County Memorial Hospital. In 2021, Resch was named CEO of Sterling Regional MedCenter, a level III designated trauma hospital in Northeast Colorado. In this capacity, Resch oversaw all aspects of both clinical and non-clinical operations and secured over $20 million in capital to improve vital care delivery infrastructure. Resch loves operations and strategy, is focused on quality and safety, and is most passionate about people and culture. He is also enthusiastic about physician and community engagement.
Resch earned a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University and a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago, studying Healthcare Administration and Policy.
Above all, Resch adores his family. He has been married for 19 years and enjoys traveling, playing guitar and pickleball, and spending time with his wife and their four children.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Resch to Regional West. He brings extensive experience in healthcare leadership that will serve our hospital and community well,” said Jim Trumbull, Regional West board chair. “I want to thank Mel McNea for coming out of retirement to assist Regional West during our transition to new leadership. His insight was extremely valuable and got us started down the road of positive change.”
Amanda Vick, MBA, BSN, RN, Regional West Chief Operating Officer, will serve as interim CEO until Resch arrives. Vick joined Regional West in 2019 as Chief Nursing Officer and has served as Chief Operating Officer since 2022. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Colorado State University, Ft. Collins.
“We made every effort to ensure we had a solid process to identify the right candidate to be the next CEO of Regional West,” said John Massey, board member and chair of the CEO Search Committee. “Ned’s experience in rural healthcare and his commitment to excellence is what set him apart from the other candidates. We look forward to the positive impact he will have on our organization’s culture and are excited for Ned and Melissa to join our community.”
The CEO Search Committee included current Regional West board members, Regional West physicians, Regional West’s administration members, and members from the community. The committee worked closely with Mark Andrew from the consulting firm Witt/Kieffer to narrow the candidates to seven before inviting them to visit the community for in-person interviews.
Three candidates were invited back to the community in early January for more extensive interviews that included time with Regional West executive leadership members, additional leadership employees, medical staff leaders, community members, and board members. Each candidate spent several days in the community. After receiving input from the interview team, the Regional West board voted unanimously to extend an offer to Resch.