By Karen Pearlman
Photo, left: Aaron J. Byzak, Interim CEO, Grossmont Healthcare District
Updated March 11, 2025 with comments from Christian Wallis.
March 10, 2025 (La Mesa) -- The Grossmont Healthcare District’s communications strategy consultant Aaron J. Byzak is adding a title, acting for a short time as the public agency’s interim CEO.
At a GHD Board of Directors special meeting on Monday, March 10, the board voted 5-0 to appoint Byzak in the role effective immediately.
Byzak, 47, will advise and help the board find the successor to its most recent CEO, Christian Wallis, whose contract was not renewed by the GHD board last week during a closed session on March 4.
“At this point I feel I’m uniquely qualified to help ease the transition,” Byzak said.
The contract terms include $18,500 per month in addition to Byzak’s previous public affairs contract with the district of $6,000 per month.
Created in 1952, GHD supports the health and wellness of East County through oversight of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, the operation of a public Health & Wellness library, healthcare career scholarships for local students, and a community grants and sponsorships program.
GHD is governed by an elected board representing nearly 520,000 people residing within 750 square miles.
As interim CEO, Byzak said he will lead a team of 15 professional staff and report directly to the GHD board.
His term is initially set for a minimum of three months, during which he will also help facilitate the board’s search for a permanent CEO. Byzak said he expects the process of finding a new CEO for the district to take between three and six months.
Byzak is co-owner and Chief Strategist for Galvanized Strategies, a strategic public affairs and fractional executive leadership firm with offices in California and Texas. He previously served on the executive team for Tri-City Healthcare District from 2018-24, most recently as Chief Strategy Officer. He also was a key member of the leadership team at UC San Diego Health from 2009-17.
Byzak has been the communication strategy consultant for Grossmont Healthcare District for the past seven months. His contract with GHD says his job entails promoting the district in media relations, doing communications planning and brand positioning, offering opinion/editorial support and doing community engagement and outreach.
He has also been part of the GHD’s recognition and awards strategy, in which the district applies for honors and awards recognizing its programs and partnerships.
“Although I am communications consultant for the district, I have an extensive background in hospital leadership and healthcare district leadership, so it made sense for them to go with somebody who’s already in the organization to help lead the staff that are here,” Byzak said.
“As interim CEO, I’m going to make sure that their amazing, nationally renowned programs continue without any hiccups and we maintain all the positive relationships we’ve built with all of our community partners and to help advice the board of directors on the permanent CEO search.”
Wallis’ employment agreement was to expire on May 17 and the GHD board voted 4-1 on March 10 not to renew it, with Nadia Farjood casting the dissenting vote. They also voted unanimously to offer Wallace a severance agreement.
Wallis, 54, was hired by the district in 2021 and given a two-year extension in 2023. He succeeded Barry Jantz, who retired after 16 years of service.
Wallis (photo, left) said with the suddenness of his departure from the district, he was disappointed that he was not able to properly thank community members.
"I missed being able to not say 'Goodbye and thank you,'" Wallis told ECM by phone the day following the approval of Byzak's contract. "I want to thank the East County community for their support over the last four years," he added. "I was immediately embraced and proud to work on their behalf."
Of the legacy he left behind at GHD, Wallis said he is most proud of the collaborations the district had with its community partners."These relationships have helped improve the East County healthcare workforce pipeline, developed innovative methods to improve the emergency response process and dedicated much-needed awareness and resources to our rural community," Wallis said.
In an email to those close to the district, Amy Abrams (photo, right), chief community health officer for the GHD, called Wallis' departure "an unwelcome surprise to all of us on staff" and praised Wallis as "a great leader, well-respected in the community, and a catalyst for several impactful initiatives in our region. He'll be missed by many,” she added.
Abrams also said she is "very grateful to have (Byzak)'s healthcare leadership experience as well as his knowledge of the Grossmont Healthcare District's work in East County" as GHD staff moves through the transition.
During the open session of the March 10 meeting, the board had some pushback from new GHD representative Nadia Farjood (photo, left). Farjood said she was "deeply disappointed in and disheartened by the decision of my colleagues to not renew (Wallis') contract.”
"I am also shocked and befuddled by the decision because Mr. Wallis was a visionary, strategic, thoughtful, kind and capable leader, admired and beloved by both staff and the community during his tenure,' Farjood said. "He spearheaded transformative initiatives in collaboration with staff and community partners that have made tremendous strides toward improving community health and wellness in East County."
Farjood asked to waive privilege over the closed session discussion, asking GHD's legal team to release information from the March 4 meeting in order to "educate the public." Her request was not seconded by any of the other board members.
Also at the March 10 meeting, Michael Peddecord (photo, right), an emeritus of the School of Public Health at San Diego State, thanked Wallis for his accomplishments and said that "many others in the community would agree he brought a needed set of skills and a new perspective to the CEO position with his unique skills and experiences."
"(Wallis) understood the workings of medical care, public health and also the potential of the district to play a previously untapped leadership role in these spheres," Peddecord said. "His work in developing a strategic plan will help the district's grant-making activities and be more focused in the long-term efforts to provide a better value for our healthcare tax dollars."
Bob Ayres (photo, left), GHD’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, said he is confident in the appointment of Byzak.
“We brought Aaron on a time ago as our media consultant and he’s not an unknown,” Ayres said. “We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Aaron’s caliber and experience step into this role. His leadership abilities and strategic insights are essential as we continue to advance our mission.”
Byzak is a Vista resident and North County native with three decades of work in the healthcare industry. He has been honored five times by the San Diego Business Journal in the publication’s annual list of the 500 Most Influential People in San Diego. He is also a four-time 
Emmy Award-winning writer and producer.
Barry Jantz (photo, right), the former CEO of GHD and current president and owner of Jantz Communications, said that he has known Byzak for many years.
He said that with Byzak’s diverse background in healthcare district governance and community health, and “given a number of significant matters before the district... he’s a great choice to step into the role at this critical time.”