Two experienced hospital executives have been named to head up the new Trios Health leadership team.

The changes come on the heels of the Trios Heath sale to RCCH HealthCare Partners of Tennessee on Aug. 4.

The hospital is now operated as a joint venture between RCCH HealthCare Partners and UW Medicine, called RCCH-UW Medicine Healthcare Holdings LLC.

This means RCCH now operates and manages Trios Southridge Hospital, Trios Women’s & Children’s Hospital and Trios Medical Group with UW Medicine providing clinical and quality expertise. The change, effective Aug. 3, affects about 1,100 providers, clinicians, support staff and volunteers.

The Kennewick Public Hospital District will retain oversight of Trios Adult Day Services.

The hospital district, which will no longer have operational responsibilities for Trios Health, will continue but with a revamped community health mission, including community health outreach and programs, according to Trios officials.

John Solheim, who has 35 years of hospital leadership experience, will be the new chief executive officer at Trios.

Jason Hotchkiss will be moving from a sister RCCH facility to serve as Trios’ chief financial officer.

Both men have been at Trios Health over the past few weeks working with Trios leaders and the former interim leaders to help facilitate a smooth transition.

“We are very excited to welcome John and Jason to Trios. Both have significant hospital leadership experience and ties to the northwest United States. I know they will both be a great addition to the Trios team. We know that the slight delay in the closing of the transaction has brought its own set of challenges, but we have been so impressed with the flexibility the Trios team has shown during the process,” said RCCH Division President Robert Wampler in a news release.

Solheim worked at facilities in Minnesota and Montana and has had success growing hospital service lines and recruiting physicians and leading hospitals as they turn around from challenging situations, according to a news release from RCCH.

The hospital he led in Minnesota was named one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Top 150 Places to Work” in 2014. Solheim was also named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s “50 Top Rural CEOs to Know” in 2015 and 2016.

He received his master of health administration from the University of Minnesota and his bachelor’s degree in organizational communications and business administration/hospital administration from Concordia College. He is a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and served in a variety of state and regional healthcare leadership roles.

Solheim and his wife Maria have been married 28 years. They have two children ages 25 and 22. They like all outdoor activities including hunting, fishing, and biking.

Hotchkiss is coming to Trios Health from sister RCCH facility Ottumwa Regional Health Center in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he has served as the chief financial officer/chief operating officer in Ottumwa since 2013. Prior to that he was with the RCCH facilities in Alabama. Earlier in his career, Hotchkiss had leadership roles at hospitals in Idaho. He began his career as a certified public accountant with KPMG in California and Idaho.

Hotchkiss received his bachelor’s in business from Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

His wife of 23 years Vernessa is originally from the Tri Cities and is a Hanford High School, Ricks College and Eastern Washington University graduate. Jason and Vernessa met and lived in the Tri- Cities before moving to Spokane. They have four children (three daughters, one son) aged 12 to 21. Their family loves the mountains and outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, rafting and water skiing.

Trios Health is the second hospital to be part of the innovative RCCH-UW Medicine joint venture. The other is Capital Medical Center in Olympia, Washington.

Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, RCCH operates 17 regional health systems in 12 states.

The Trios Health sale comes less than a year after the hospital district filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Its court-approved restructuring plan reduces the company’s pre-bankruptcy debt by about $350 million.

The hospital district had more than 3,000 creditors holding about $221 million in claims, according to court documents. These creditors included bondholders, real and personal property lessors and lenders, current or former employees and retirees, political subdivisions or state or federal agencies and others.

Trios sold its home health care operations to Columbia River Home Health, a local affiliate of home health, hospice and home care services provider Cornerstone Healthcare Inc., for $1.1 million in July.