Chaplaincy Health Care hospice hires new leader with Tri-Cities roots

Chaplaincy Health Care has hired a former Tri-Citian to serve as its new chief executive in Richland.

Laurel “Laurie” Jackson starts work Monday at the nonprofit that offers hospice care and services for grieving adults and children.

She most recently worked as administrator of post-acute and community care with St. Charles Health System in Bend, Ore. Before that she was senior director of Compass Care at Memorial Hospital in Yakima, overseeing hospice, palliative care, home health and the bioethics committee.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Jackson has served on the board of both the Washington State Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Oregon Hospice and Palliative Care Association.

She is familiar with the Tri-Cities after attending Jason Lee Elementary School in Richland before her family moved to Yakima.

The Chaplaincy board conducted a national search for a new CEO after longtime CEO Gary Castillo resigned last spring.