Jim Raggio, CEO Announces Retirement

After 20 years leading Lompoc Valley Medical Center as its Chief Executive Officer, Jim Raggio on Thursday announced his retirement. Raggio will end his extensive healthcare career on June 30. He has held the top leadership role for the healthcare district since 1998 and was first employed at Lompoc hospital in 1980. Raggio said in a message to the LVMC Board of Directors that it was with the “utmost sense of pride and gratitude” that he was announcing his retirement.

“Working at Lompoc Valley Medical Center for the past 35 years has been a privilege and an honor,” he said. “As Chief Executive Officer, I have been blessed with a governing board solely focused on what is best for the community and who has allowed staff to do our jobs but always maintained appropriate oversight. Together, along with our extraordinary staff and medical staff, we have facilitated a number of accomplishments over the past 20 years and I am very proud to have played a role in LVMC’s success.”

Raggio came to LVMC in 1980 and managed the clinical laboratory. He was promoted in 1987 to Director of Clinical Services. He left the district in 1995 to become administrator of a multi-specialty medical group in Lompoc and returned to LVMC in 1998 as CEO.

During his tenure, Raggio guided the healthcare district through unprecedented growth and change, including the bond election and construction of a new acute care hospital in 2010 and greatly expanding healthcare services and access to specialites for patients in the community.

Raggio serves on the California Hospital Association Board of Directors and is President of the District Hospital Leadership Forum, which seeks to improve district hospitals’ access to public funding.