A nationwide search for a new administrator of Obici Hospital ended right here at home.

Obici Health System’s board of directors on Thursday named Rosemary C. Check, administrator of Sentara Bayside Hospital in Virginia Beach, as the new chief executive office of the hospital. She will begin work on April 11.

Check is filling a position vacant since the September 2004 resignation of former hospital president William C. Giermak.

Check, who has been in Virginia Beach for the past five years, has extensive hospital management experience. Prior to her current position, she was at the helm of Greensville Memorial Hospital in Emporia; Littleton Regional Hospital, Littleton, N.H.; and Wallace Thomson Hospital in Union, S.C.

Check is a graduate of Purdue University and has a master’s degree in health administration from the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia.

&uot;She has done an outstanding job as administrator of Bayside,&uot; said J. Samuel Glasscock, chairman of the Obici’s board of directors. &uot;She has the reputation of being a solid administrator who keeps up with the changes in her field and works well with physicians and hospital staff.

&uot;We feel fortunate that Ms. Check has accepted the position.&uot;

Check was one of several applicants recommended for interviews by a national search firm retained by the hospital, Glasscock said.

&uot;All the candidates were well qualified but we thought she was the best,&uot; Glasscock said. &uot;We thing she will fit in with our community …and believe she will best lead the hospital in the delivery of quality healthcare in our community.&uot;

allison.williams@suffolknewsherald.com