ELIZABETHTOWN — The search is on for a new chief executive at Bladen County Hospital. Bladen County Commissioner Charles Ray Peterson, who serves on the Bladen County Hospital Advisory Board, made the announcement on Monday during the commissioners’ meeting that interim BCH CEO Kevin Jackson is leaving to return to Cape Fear Valley.

Jackson was serving as vice-president of support services at CFV before being tabbed as interim CEO.

“We have already started a search for a CEO for BCH,” said Cape Fear Valley CEO Mike Nagowski. “We have hired a professional search firm that specializes in finding CEOs for health systems.”

CFV and BCH entered into a five-year lease agreement in June and former BCH CEO David Masterson resigned after accepting a similar position at Sampson Regional Medical Center in Clinton. CFV named Jackson as interim CEO when Masterson announced he was leaving.

Nagowski said the search committee will include members of the BCH advisory board; members of the medical staff from BCH; and board members from CFV.

“It will be a joint committee of both health systems and input from physicians,” said Nagowski.

The firm of Anderson and Associates of Charlotte is conducting the search. Nagowski said the firm had been given the CEO criteria and have now begun to look at potential candidates.

According to Nagowski, the executive search firm will seek out and locate people in other health care systems who may be a good fit or express an interest in the vacancy. Once the firm compiles a list of folks who express an interest in the position, the firm will review that list and try to reduce it to a group of candidates for the search committee to interview.

“Every organization has its own unique set of challenges. We want to make sure we have a good fit and are now in the process of searching for the right types of candidates for Bladen,” said Nagowski.