Tri-City names Dr. Gene Ma as its interim CEO
With its search for a new chief executive officer expected to last several months, and its current leader retiring in late March, the Tri-City Healthcare District announced an interim replacement Monday.
Effective March 22, Dr. Gene Ma, who currently serves as the Oceanside hospital’s chief medical officer, will step into the role until a nationwide search to replace outgoing chief executive Steve Dietlin is complete.
Ma, who a hospital representative confirmed is being considered for the permanent CEO role, is an emergency medicine specialist who has worked at Tri-City Medical Center for more than 20 years.
In a statement, Ma said he can provide stability in the interim.
“Despite the unimaginable challenges in health care over the last few years, we have accomplished so much during Mr. Dietlin’s tenure, yet what truly excites me are the opportunities ahead of us in Tri-City’s future,” Ma said.
His experience goes beyond medicine with work in health care acquisitions, affiliations and mergers also listed as key parts of his skillset. He attended medical school at UC San Francisco with an internship at Stanford University and a residency at UC San Diego, joining Tri-City Emergency Medical Group in 2000.
Tri-City’s CEO has plenty to oversee. Like many facilities across the nation, Tri-City is struggling to keep its bottom line in the black as wages for skilled workers climb, a painful lingering effect of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw many with patient care skills leave the workforce.
The public hospital district, which is run by an elected board of directors, is also working on multiple fronts to modernize its operations. Construction crews are now building a new 16-bed mental health hospital on its campus with county funds. Tri-City also plans to upgrade its busy emergency department.
It is also working to rebuild its labor and delivery service after losing significant patient volume when local community clinics shifted deliveries to Palomar Health in Escondido. That move is currently under examination by the San Diego Local Area Formation Commission.