Floyd County Medical Center announces new CEO

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Medical Center Board of Trustees has selected Dawnett Willis as the medical center’s new chief executive officer, to begin Oct. 4.

A statement issued by the medical center says that Willis has more than 20 years of experience in health care leadership, business development and operations.

Most recently, she was the chief ancillary/operations officer at Pella Regional Medical Center. Prior to that, she was the acting CEO at UnityPoint Health in Marshalltown and the regional strategy, planning and business development executive for UnityPoint Health Waterloo Region.

Willis said she is looking forward to working with the board, medical staff and employees to build on the medical center’s success.

“I am impressed with how committed the board, the physicians, the employees and staff of FCMC are to the health care of our community,” Willis said. “I look forward to joining them in moving forward with their goals and vision for the future.”

This will be the first time in about 27 years that FCMC has been entirely responsible for picking its own leader.

From 1994 until this year the medical center had a contract with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for Mayo to provide an administrator to serve as CEO of the Floyd County Medical Center, subject to the county hospital board’s approval.

In May, FCMC and the Mayo Clinic announced they had discontinued that contract and the FCMC Board of Trustees would be solely responsible for selecting the hospital and clinic CEO going forward. Previously the administrator had been an employee of Mayo while serving as the local CEO. Now the CEO will be a medical center employee.

The previous Mayo-provided administrator, Rod Nordeng, was removed from the position by Mayo in February without explanation.

The new CEO, Willis, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Master of Business Administration degree in strategic management and operations from Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Willis said she is very impressed by Charles City and has a desire to be involved in the community.

“The city is charming. The natural beauty has been well preserved and I can sense the community pride, which I really value,” she said. “Everyone has been so kind and generous during this process. My husband, Alan, and I really look forward to our move to Charles City.”

Willis said she hopes to get involved through church, volunteerism, service, and board membership. She has previously served as a board member of her local Rotary Club and area United Way.

Willis grew up in rural northeast Texas but said she feels Iowa is where she belongs.