Community Mercy Health Partners appointed an interim replacement Tuesday for former president and CEO Mark Wiener.

Paul C. Hiltz — who was been in senior leadership positions at Cincinnati Mercy for 25 years — will serve as interim president and CEO starting today, according to a news release. Cincinnati Mercy is part of the Catholic Health Partners system that also oversees CMHP.

Wiener resigned effective Dec. 31 from CMHP, which is the largest employer in Clark County with 2,700 employees, two hospitals, and various medical and nursing facilities in the region.

CMHP has said it would use a senior leadership team rather than hire an interim. But after the holidays the board decided an interim CEO and president would better serve the hospital system’s needs.

“We’re just looking for the best approach to get the best leader,” said Pamela Young, CMHP board president. “We’ve now decided the holidays are over and we think moving forward, it makes sense to have an interim as we work with a search firm to get the best leader we can.”

There are no specific guidelines for a new candidate, Young said, only that they were the best.

During Wiener’s time with CMHP, six years overall including his four years as president and CEO, he oversaw the final merging of Community Hospital and Mercy Medical Center and the opening of the new, downtown Springfield Regional Medical Center.

A new president and CEO will have to deal with completing a proposed medical office building on the Springfield Regional campus, as well as working with local officials on caring for the old hospital buildings.

Hiltz will serve while the CMHP board and Catholic Health Partners board combined search committee, along with a national search firm, seek a permanent replacement for Wiener.