Uffer Is New S.B. County Executive

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to appoint the former head of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center as the county’s top administrative officer.

Mark Uffer, who has held the post temporarily since the previous administrative officer resigned in March, will become the sixth person to hold the position since August 1998. The county is recovering from a corruption scandal that snared several top officials, including two former administrative officers.

To entice Uffer to stay, the supervisors voted to increase the salary by 12%, to $220,000, and double the retirement credits he receives. The job includes a $769-a-month benefit package and a car allowance, or use of a county car.

The board also voted to pay Uffer one year’s salary and benefits if he is fired during his first four years in the post. He will receive nine months’ salary and benefits if he is fired in the fifth or sixth year of his tenure.

Uffer, 51, was executive director of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center from September 1998 until March, when the board asked him to replace Wally Hill, who resigned abruptly after several board members complained that he was too independent and unwilling to accept guidance.

Uffer has held several administrative positions in hospitals throughout Southern California. Before taking his post at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, he was chief executive at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Pasadena.