Peggy Mendiburu hired to fill CEO position at healthcare district
There will be a new chief executive officer at Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District effective Feb. 6.
Business Manager Lisa Hughes reported on Jan. 9 that Peggy Mendiburu was selected by the Board of Directors to fill the position left vacant in late November with the resignation of Caroline Wasielewski.
The healthcare district was formed in 1949 and operated Tehachapi Valley Hospital for many years. It owns the new hospital that opened in November 2018 and is leased from the district by Adventist Health.
Mendiburu is no stranger to the district. She worked as an executive assistant for the district from March 2011 to November 2016 when it operated the former hospital on E Street. She currently works in the same role at Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley.
“I am happy and excited to have been chosen for the CEO position,” Mendiburu said on Monday. “I am looking forward to my new role and working with the district board, staff and this community. It is bittersweet leaving my position with Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, but I look forward to working together to promote and improve the quality of life and healthcare in our community.”
Edward Martin, site administrator at the hospital, said he will miss Mendiburu. “As a hospital, we are both saddened and excited to hear about Peggy’s new role as CEO of the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District,” he said. “She has served as the executive assistant both for the Adventist
Health Kern County President, Daniel Wolcott and myself, while still supporting numerous committees and departments..”
In November, local voters approved a new 30-year lease for Adventist Health to operate the hospital. In exchange for the extension, the healthcare organization has said it will build a new $8 million outpatient pavilion adjacent to the hospital at no cost to taxpayers.
The healthcare district, in addition to continuing to pay off bonds that were used to help pay for the hospital’s construction, continues to manage property it owns in downtown Tehachapi and is also pursuing construction of a new community resource center on the E Street property where the old hospital stood until its demolition in late 2021.