Spokane Regional Health District appears set to hire a new administrator. Who is under consideration is unclear.

The identity of the new Spokane Regional Health District administrator has been kept under wraps ahead of their hiring.

SRHD’s health board will meet Wednesday morning to consider approval of the new administrator’s contract. The permanent position has been vacant since the board removed former administrator Alicia Thompson last September.

The process to choose the leader of the public health entity was noticeably more open when they last went through it in 2023. At the time, four finalists were publicly announced ahead of Thompson’s selection.

Health district spokesperson Kelli Hawkins said no finalists were announced in the 2026 search to protect their privacy.

“During the interview process, we did not disclose the candidate’s name in order to respect their privacy,” Hawkins said.

Only those who participated in the interview panels were allowed to know the candidate’s name and background, including the health board, district leadership team and a group of community stakeholders.

Candidates went through several rounds of interviews, and the most recent interview involved only the final candidate. At last week’s meeting, the health board directed its legal team to enter into contract negotiations with the finalist, who was only referred to as “Candidate A.”

The board will consider approving the new administrator’s contract at its Wednesday morning meeting.

Whoever takes the helm at SRHD will need to bring stability to an organization that has had a revolving slate of leaders in recent years. Former administrator Amelia Clark left the district in 2022 amid fallout from the 2020 firing of health officer Bob Lutz, and Thompson was fired last year because of unnamed performance concerns. Since that most recent ouster, SRHD has been led by interim administrators Ray Byrne and Kim Kramarz.