Coupeville, Wash.-based WhidbeyHealth and HealthTech have agreed to end their management services agreement early, effective July 22.
Five things to know:
1. The agreement between Whidbey Island Public Hospital District, which operates WhidbeyHealth, and HealthTech was scheduled to remain in effect through March 2027, according to a July 30 WhidbeyHealth news release shared with Becker’s. The hospital district entered a five-year contract with HealthTech on March 2, 2022.
2. By ending the agreement early, the hospital has avoided roughly $644,000 in remaining contractual costs through March. WhidbeyHealth paid a prorated $41,242.66 in July.
3. As part of the transition, CEO Nathan Staggs has concluded his employment with HealthTech and is now a direct employee of WhidbeyHealth. CFO Paul Rogers is also now directly employed by WhidbeyHealth.
4. The transition is expected to have no effect on patient care, services or daily operations, the release said.
5. The termination agreement comes about months after hospital medical staff issued a vote of no confidence in HealthTech. In a Jan. 28 letter to WhidbeyHealth’s board of commissioners, Chief of Staff Robert Rookstool, MD, formally notified the board that the medical staff had issued the vote. It came after the board voted Jan. 22 to terminate Mr. Staggs, then reversed the decision during the same meeting after pushback from staff.
Earlier in 2026, hospital district leaders raised concerns about HealthTech’s alleged overreach into hospital administration and have disagreed about who has the authority to dismiss the CEO, according to letters obtained through a public records request, the South Whidbey Record reported Feb. 27.
Becker’s has reached out to HealthTech and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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