Whidbey General Hospital has narrowed to three its field of candidates for chief executive officer.

CEO Tom Tomasino is stepping down from the position in October, giving him and the board plenty of time to train his replacement before his departure.

With only three candidates in the running and hopes of making a job offer by the end of January, Commissioner Anne Tarrant, who also serves as board president, said they’re not releasing the names of the finalists at this time.

The search executive hired to help line up candidates, Kate Kingsley of KL Kingsley Executive Search, hasn’t confirmed whether the top three candidates notified their current employers of their search for a new job, Tarrant said.

“They are all gainfully employed and I don’t want to jeopardize their current positions,” Tarrant said.

Keeping the identities a secret “is the best thing to do for everybody,” Kingsley said.

The names and backgrounds of the remaining candidates will be released soon, however. The hospital board is hosting three luncheons over the next week, one for each candidate, to allow members of the community to get to know them before a final selection is made.

The luncheons are by invitation only.

Tarrant said invitations were sent to the three mayors on the island, a former CEO, a representative from the health department, representatives from the three chambers of commerce on the island, one of the county commissioners and the Whidbey News Group.

The luncheons are Jan. 16, 19 and 22.

“It’s all about the right fit,” Kingsley said. “All the three candidates are qualified executives, and I think it’s just a matter of who’s going to be the best fit.”

The process of narrowing the field of candidates to three was a long one that started after Kingsley was hired in August.

Kingsley said she received between 25 to 40 resumes. She then worked with a search committee from the hospital, consisting of two community members, two board members, including Tarrant, a physician and nurse from Whidbey General as well as a private practice doctor.

Kingsley and the committee narrowed the field to nine candidates to present to the board, which conducted background checks on six of those candidates. After that, four were brought for interviews.

After that, only three remained in the running.

“It’s always a challenge to find the right person for the right organization,” Kingsley said. “We had a very good response to the Whidbey position. So, even though it’s a small entity, I think the location is one people are excited about … and think it would be a great place to live.”

The hiring process followed by Kingsley and the hospital is one that Kingsley said she has utilized in past searches for small, public hospitals.

“I’m following what she has done with them,” said Tarrant.

“And I’ve also spoken with their boards, and I’m following the same process that they went through.”

If Whidbey General opts to go with none of the three remaining candidates, it will start the search over again instead of pulling from the same pool of applicants, said Tarrant.

She added the selection process would probably take just as long.

The remainder of the hiring process includes the meet-and-greet luncheons, another round of interviews and a tour of the hospital for each of the candidates.

“We’re hoping to have made an offer by the end of the month,” Tarrant said.