The North Valley Hospital board of directors has named its new chief executive officer to replace Craig Aasved, who stepped down last May.
Jason Spring, from Hot Springs, Ark., will take over the Whitefish hospital’s top administrative position on March 9. Spring was selected following a large national search conducted by Quorum Health Resources, North Valley’s management company.
Spring brings years of top-level administrative experience in the health care field. Most recently, he was the CEO at HealthPark Hospital in Hot Springs for five years. HealthPark is a 20-bed, physician-owned hospital. Prior to HealthPark, he spent three years as the CEO of an 83-bed rehabilitation hospital system.
He has also served as the regional director of development and managed care for the Arkansas health market; vice president of network development for a 153-bed medical center; director of development and clinic operations for three start-up clinics; and clinic manager for a hospital-based orthopedic clinic.
North Valley Hospital is a community-based, nonprofit corporation. Its last three CEOs have been Marcel Loh (1990-1994), Kenneth Platou (1994-2000) and Aasved (2000-2008).
Aasved oversaw a number of large changes at the hospital, including the construction and opening of a new facility on a different campus. The hospital also expanded several programs during his tenure, including becoming a Planetree affiliate, achieving critical access status and adding a variety of other services.
Aasved is now the chief operating officer at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
Spring has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Centenary College of Louisiana and a Master of Arts degree in health service administration at the University of Arkansas. Also, Arkansas Health Executive Forum and Arkansas Business named him as one of 40 individuals under the age of 40 who are most likely to have an influence on industry and politics in the future.
Spring is a member of Fellow American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), a prestigious national organization for health care executives. He and his wife, Angie, have two children: Emma Claire, 9 and Jack, 6.