Manus named hospital district CEO

NEWPORT – Longtime hospital district employee Kim Manus was named CEO and Superintendent of Newport Health and Hospital Services at its regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 30.

Manus, 64, started with Public Hospital District No. 1 of Pend Oreille County’s Newport hospital in August 1986.

“She served as the Business Office Manager/Treasurer and transitioned to Chief Financial Officer in 2001,” Newport Hospital District board chair Lynnette Elswick said in a statement. “Kim is a long time Pend Oreille County resident and understands the community’s needs, especially those related to healthcare. In her time with the District, she has seen exponential growth and looks forward to future opportunities for expansion.”

Manus will continue the work of the hospital district’s strategic plan, focusing on service line expansion, facilities improvements and community service, Elswick said. That will align with the District’s mission to serve the community with integrity and exceptional quality care, she said in the statement.

“We are excited to begin the District’s next chapter with Kim at the helm,” Elswick said. “We are very fortunate to have someone with Kim’s expertise and experience. Her dedication to the District and staff is unsurpassed.”

Manus’s base salary is $346,000. The board passed a resolution setting the base salary and didn’t sign a contract for a set number of years. Instead, the resolution said Manus will continue as CEO “for an indefinite period of time.”

The board will start advertising for a Chief Financial Officer this week, said Jenny Smith, the hospital’s public information officer. Manus has been serving as both the CEO and CFO since the contentious departure of former CEO Merry- Ann Keane in August 2024.

Keane, hired by NHHS in October 2022, resigned in 2024. That was before her contract expired at the end of 2025. She was paid $245,250 by the hospital district in severance pay to resolve disputed claims, hospital district attorney Jenaé Ball wrote in an email to The Miner last year.

Keane replaced long-time NHHS CEO Tom Wilbur, who served as CEO from 2004 to 2022 before retiring.

Manus is married to former Pend Oreille County Commissioner Mike Manus and has three stepdaughters, including Smith, 12 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

In her spare time, Manus enjoys golfing, huckleberry picking, and boating. She’s also the new owner of an 11-week-old golden retriever named River.