Heartland Health has narrowed its CEO candidates to four.

The Heartland board cannot reveal the identities of these candidates due to the fact that their current employers may not know they’re interviewing for the position, said Al Purcell, vice chairman of the Heartland board and chairman of the CEO search committee. He did note, however, that all are either hospital CEOs or medical doctors with executive leadership experience.

“All the candidates are very qualified,” he said. “What we’re asking now is ‘Is it a good fit?’”

The “good fit” Heartland seeks is a person who will not only lead the medical center, but also be involved in the St. Joseph community, Mr. Purcell added. To accomplish this, the Heartland board has brought in other groups — including physicians (both Heartland and non-Heartland), elected officials and education leaders, past Heartland board chairmen and Heartland officers and administrators — to help interview the finalists.

These interviews, each beginning on a Sunday evening and ending on a Monday evening, are already under way — which led Mr. Purcell to compare the current state of the search to a “duck on the water: It looks so calm, but its little feet are going a thousand miles an hour.”

Although he couldn’t give an exact time for when the new CEO will be chosen, he said it’s supposed to happen within six to 12 months of when the process began last December.

Current CEO Lowell Kruse announced in January 2008 his intent to retire, and his contract will end in February 2010. He has held the position for 25 years — significantly longer than the five to six years hospital CEOs average.

“When you have a really large shadow and big shoes to fill, that’s daunting for some people,” Mr. Purcell said. “We’re putting in a lot of time and effort to make sure we get this right.”

Erin Wisdom can be reached

at ewisdom@npgco.com.

The story “Heartland search narrows” on Page B1 of Thursday’s News-Press contained incorrect information, due to a misunderstanding by the reporter. The four finalists to become the next CEO of Heartland Health are all current hospital CEOs or senior leaders, or medical doctors with executive leadership experience, according to the chair of the search committee.

The News-Press apologizes for the error.