YKHC board names interim chief Patricia Smith permanent CEO

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation board named Patricia Smith permanent President and Chief Executive Officer on Sept. 25, ending a search that opened when Dan Winkelman left for Doyon, Limited. Smith, who has run the Bethel-based corporation as interim chief since April 11, has worked at YKHC for nearly 30 years. She is a lifelong Bethel resident and a member of Bethel's tribal council, the Orutsararmiut Native Council. Board chair Darren Cleveland announced the appointment.

Smith now oversees the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital, behavioral and public health programs, and a network the corporation's Sept. 25 announcement puts at 47 village health clinics. The same announcement says she used to run 42 village clinics and five sub-regional ones, adding to 47; YKHC's About page lists 41 village clinics. The corporation reported a workforce of 1,600 employees serving 30,000 residents across the region in its 2024 annual report. The tribal councils of 58 federally recognized tribes elect the board that chose her, according to About YKHC.

The vacancy opened when Winkelman stepped down April 10 after 25 years at YKHC, 12 of them as chief executive. Doyon announced the same day, March 9, that he would become its president and chief executive June 1; YKHC's own announcement did not say where he was going. The board credits his tenure with more than $500 million in health care infrastructure, including the Bethel hospital.

The board hired Pearl Meyer, a firm that specializes in chief executive succession, in April. On May 14, YKHC told members advertising had begun. "Qualified internal and external candidates are encouraged to apply," the corporation said. It expected the process to take three to six months. The search took 134 days from the start of advertising. None of the corporation's three announcements says how many people applied, who else was considered, what the search cost or what criteria the board used. The account of the search comes only from YKHC.

The board charged Smith with expanding health aide training, adding village telehealth and doubling the YK Elders Home. Health aides are hired from the villages they serve, train two to four years and staff clinics with no physician.

In February, Winkelman told Tribal Gathering delegates YKHC was awaiting word from the Indian Health Service on growing the Elders Home from 18 beds to 36. The answer came May 4: YKHC announced the agency had selected it for the Joint Venture Construction Program. YKHC pays to build, at an estimated $66 million; the agency asks Congress to fund staffing and operations. Groundbreaking is projected two to five years out.