Preston Becker

Barton Health has added a chief operating officer to its management team, a first for the South Lake Tahoe-based health care organization.

“We have added the position of COO to our executive team in order to ensure that the operations across all the clinical departments are consistent. As Barton continues to expand access to additional services and our operations become more complex, our new COO will enable us to ensure consistently exceptional care to our patients,” CEO Clint Purvance told Lake Tahoe News.

Preston Becker, who most recently was CEO of Carson Valley Medical Center in Gardnerville, has been hired as the COO.

While Barton would not release what Becker’s salary is, it is assuredly well into the six figures. IRS documents for Barton from 2015, the most recent available, show the CEO making $672,044 a year and the CFO salary being $340,070. Their benefits packages are each worth in excess of $30,000.

Asked who was essentially doing the job before Becker came on board, Elizabeth Stork, director of Human Resources, said, “This is a new position that aligns patient care, services, and office operations. Some duties and responsibilities now within the COO position were previously shared between the executive team and managers.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report