Geri Forbes, CEO for WhidbeyHealth, received high praise and a $70,000 bonus during her annual performance review by the Whidbey Island Public Health District Board of Commissioners.

“We’re impressed with the administrative team you’ve assembled and we very much appreciate where you’ve gotten us to date,” board president Ron Wallin told Forbes earlier this week at the board’s monthly meeting.

The board-approved bonus equals 25 percent of Forbes’ $279,000 annual salary and is part of the contract she negotiated when hired in early 2015. To get the bonus, she had to meet board objectives.

“We’re just very, very impressed with her ability to put people together and work as a team,” Commissioner Eric Anderson said.

The board met in secret session for 30 minutes Monday and then re-convened to disclose their discussion.

“We reviewed Geri’s goals and those she accomplished,” Commissioner Nancy Fey said. “Geri, by her own admission, said some goals were not met, those which she didn’t have total control of. It was a good discussion.”

Forbes oversees about 800 employees and all the medical services of WhidbeyHealth. Wallin pointed out that Forbes is responsible not just for the 32-bed hospital but an entire healthcare system.

WhidbeyHealth should be compared to other, larger critical access systems or hospital districts because of the quantity and scope of services offered by the public hospital, he said. Wallin added that Forbes’ annual salary is lower than local hospitals of the same size or smaller.