Less than two weeks after CEO Michael Aeberhardt departed under mysterious circumstances, the Whitehorse General Hospital has a new chief executive officer.

Craig Tuton, chair of the hospital's board of trustees, said in an interview this morning longtime Yukoner Joe MacGillivray has been appointed to the post effective Oct. 1, replacing interim CEO Elivira Knaack.

Tuton said the board opted not to go out for a call for proposals for the position because the hospital is dealing with a number of important issues and MacGillivray was the perfect candidate.

'The board has a number of options available to it when it looks to hire the only employee that it has.

'In this particular case we were extremely happy to have Joe, who sat as a board member, and has a really good understanding of the board perspective of the corporation,' he said.

'Joe fits all the requirements, so when he accepted the challenge we were excited.'

Tuton said MacGillivray was not hired before Aeberhardt departed, but did not say when the new CEO was hired.

'It was a short time ago,' he said.

MacGillivray's appointment follows the departure of the embattled Aeberhardt, who left the position less than one year into his three-year contract.

Aeberhardt's departure followed intense debate in the legislative assembly over the state of affairs at the hospital and a letter from hospital doctors demanding his resignation.

Tuton said he could not reveal whether Aeberhardt received a severance package nor details surrounding his departure.

Tuton said this morning he could not release details on MacGillivray's salary or benefit package because it was a personnel issue.

MacGillivray is currently the assistant deputy minister for sustainable resources for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and was formerly the director of insured health services for the Yukon government.

He holds a B.A. from Queens University as well as a Masters in Public Administration.

Tuton said the board was pleased to have the opportunity to hire a Yukoner for the position.

'It provides us an opportunity to bring in someone who's local. He has a young family that's growing up here Whitehorse, so he's going to be here in the long term.

'We felt this was an opportunity we couldn't let go.'

Tuton said the hospital will soon be beginning negotiations with two of its bargaining units and the board felt it was important to have a permanent CEO before those negotiations started.

'We felt it was important if we were going to move an entirely new CEO that it was better to do it sooner than later, so that person can be moved in from the start.'

He said senior managers at the hospital and the president of the Yukon Medical Association, Rao Tadepalli, were informed of the decision this morning.

'Our senior management is quite excited to start working with him, as he is quite excited to start working with them,' Tuton said.

Tadepalli said this morning that Yukon doctors are looking forward to working with MacGillivray on issues at the hospital that need to be addressed.

'From my perspective, Yukon doctors are pleased to hear about the appointment of Mr. MacGillivray as the new CEO at the Whitehorse General Hospital,' he said.

'We feel that Mr. MacGillivray is local and he understands local issues in health care.'

Tadepalli said doctors look forward to having a 'positive dialogue' on a number of issues including the need for a psychiatric ward, more palliative care beds, the reopening of the Thomson Centre, and low staff morale.

'It's mainly staff morale issues from the previous management style,' he said.

Tadepalli also said he hopes MacGillivray's experience in government can help improve communication between the hospital and government and result in a more timely approval of much-needed funding.

Ron Billingham, communications officer with Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, said this morning MacGillivray is not granting interviews at the present time.