BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Retreat's chief executive is leaving for a job in the Boston area.
Louis Josephson joined the Brattleboro Retreat in January 2016, according to the nonprofit's website. The Retreat's executive vice president, Linda Rossi, will replace him as interim CEO in early April, the chair of the Retreat's board said Tuesday.
Josephson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon, but board Chair Tom Huebner said the staff learned of the news Tuesday afternoon.
Rossi has been with the Retreat for four years. During that time, she oversaw the Retreat's finances and operations, according to a biography on the Retreat's website. Earlier, Rossi held human resources roles at health care systems in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Huebner said the board won't convene a search for a permanent CEO right away.
“We're going to take our time and think about it and have [Rossi] do the job in the meantime,” he said.
The news comes on the heels of a particularly tough stretch for the Brattleboro Retreat, Vermont's largest psychiatric hospital and only provider of inpatient child psychiatric care. Last month, staffing shortages forced the Retreat to temporarily shut down beds.
Around that time, the state began seeking proposals to open up to 10 psychiatric beds for children and adolescents somewhere else.
Huebner said Tuesday that the hospital's census has increased since then. He said hospital leaders are determined to steer the Retreat in the right direction.
The hospital had 65 patients as of Tuesday, up from roughly 40 patients at the height of the staffing crisis, according to Huebner.
“The Retreat is absolutely a vital component of the health care system in Vermont,” he said. “It must and will survive and thrive.”