EXECUTIVE PARTNERS PROGRAM - Candace (Candy) Markwith CEO Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center
Candace (Candy) Markwith assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in March 2005. Sierra Vista is the largest hospital and the second largest private employer in San Luis Obispo County.
Candy has strong ties to San Luis Obispo County, having been born and raised in the North County as well as raising her children here. She is a veteran hospital executive with more than 30 years of health care experience. Candy began her health care career as a hospital pharmacist and spent seven years at Twin Cities Community Hospital as Chief Operating Officer. From there she held various other senior management assignments throughout California before returning to San Luis Obispo County.
Under Candy's Leadership the past four years Sierra Vista has invested more than $30 million back into the community in the form of new hospital programs and services, new construction, medical equipment and philanthropic donations. Sierra Vista has seen growth in all of its patient satisfaction metrics, ranking in the top quartile in the nation benchmarked among all Tenet hospitals. Each year Sierra Vista has steadily increased its scores in the annual Employee Satisfaction Survey and Physician Satisfaction Survey.
Candy earned her doctorate in Pharmacy, graduating cum laude from the prestigious pharmacy program at the University of the Pacific. Candy believes in community service and as such each member of the Sierra Vista management team is encouraged to actively be involved in a local community or philanthropic organization. She is the Chairman of the San Luis Obispo Public Safety Committee, Vice President of the Economic Vitality Corporation, president of United Way, Board Member of UCSB Economic Forecast Project, and previous Board member of the Emergency Medical Services Agency as well as a member of the San Luis Obispo Rotary. Candy has also used her clinical pharmacy skills to be part of a medical mission team providing health care services to patients, most recently in Guatemala.
Candy is a 2009 recipient of the Susan Dressler Women of Distinction Award at Cuesta College, and in 2008 was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women in Business for Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties by the Pacific Coast Business Times.
She and her husband, Bob, are avid pilots and enjoy flying small airplanes. Along with having an exceptional clinical and management background, Candy is also a mother and grandmother.