The Official Newspaper for Foster County

Hovdenes new CMC president

Following several months serving as the interim President of CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington Medical Center, Jodi Hovdenes has been offered and has accepted the full-time role as leader of the local hospital.

Hovdenes was sworn in as CHI Carrington's new president at an installation ceremony held Friday morning, September 16, at the CMC West Chapel.

She succeeds Mariann Doeling in the position, who resigned to take the reins at CHI St. Alexius Health Devils Lake Hospital in March of this year. During that time, Doeling was serving in a dual capacity as the Carrington president and the Devils Lake interim since May, 2021.

"I am honored to have been chosen as the new President of CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington," said Hovdenes. "I am excited for this new chapter of my career, and I look forward to serving the hospital and our community."

A Carrington native and the daughter of Bob and Patricia Gross, Hovdenes graduated from CHS in 1993, and received her bachelor of arts degree in nursing from Jamestown College in 1997.

After achieving her RN degree, she was hired on at Carrington Health Center as a nurse in various departments. She received additional training as a Trauma Nursing Core Course instructor, and is also a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.

Along with that, Hovdenes has also volunteered as an ALS provider and driver with the Carrington Ambulance Service, even serving as the organization's interim manager for a time.

Hovdenes would make her way up the administrative ladder at CHI Carrington, and served as the Vice President of Patient Services before ascending to the hospital's interim top post when Doeling left.

She takes the philosophy of leading by example to heart, and says she would not ask someone to do something that she herself would not be comfortable doing.

"I truly believe in teamwork," Hovdenes says. "I believe that every individual I work with has a unique talent, and when we put those talents together, I believe we can accomplish great things."

"To be a good leader, you have to be able to listen and have an open mind, and to be humble enough to know when we've messed up, and need to apologize."

Hovdenes praises the dedication of the CHI St. Alexius Carrington employees, characterizing them as "top notch."

"Our medical staff, in my opinion, are the best around," she says. "All of the staff truly want to do what is best for the people we serve, and also want to see the clinic and hospital grow and sustain as they see the value in having those resources in our community."

Looking ahead, Hovdenes is hopeful that CHI Carrington can continue providing its current services, while being mindful of ways to incorporate new ones.

"We're actively looking into the prospect of bringing back orthopedic and podiatry services to the clinic and operating room, and have also been actively engaging with an ophthalmologist to be able to perform cataract procedures in Carrington once again," she said.

In the meantime, the hospital is also recruiting for providers to serve the community as they look into succession planning, and the community's health care needs.

Even with her responsibilities running the administrative functions of CHI St. Alexius Carrington, Hovdenes is still willing to help out wherever and whenever she is able, whether it's in the ER, same day surgery or the medical-surgical department, or taking call with the ambulance service.

"I don't want to lose sight of where my career originally started," Hovdenes explained.

She says of her time at CHI Carrington, "I am proud to say that I work at Carrington Medical Center. The employees here are like family. We celebrate the good times, and we raise each other up during the bad times."

"We have fun, we work hard, and we let our light shine," she concluded.

Hovdenes and her husband, Jason, who owns and operates J&R Dirt Works and also is a part-time paramedic and volunteer with Carrington Fire and Rescue, have three children together, triplets Ean, Carrie, and Chloe. The three are all seniors at CHS. She also has two older sons, Chaz and Jarret Bauer.

 
 
Rendered 03/22/2024 13:30