Lowell Johnson of Seattle has been selected by the Board of Commissioners to serve as interim chief executive officer at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland. He will be in charge of the health care organization’s day-to-day operation while a national search is conducted to replace Steve Brown.

Brown, who has been CEO since 2002, resigned to become the president and CEO of the Mount Nittany Medical center in State College, Pa. His last day at Evergreen will be Feb. 19.

Johnson has nearly 40 years of health care experience. He has been an interim management consultant serving as chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer in rural and urban hospitals of varying size and complexity. He has had permanent positions with Illinois Blue Cross, Touche Ross and served as the senior vice president and chief financial officer of the Legacy Health System in Portland, Oregon. Johnson graduated with an economics degree from the University of Minnesota and earned his masters degree at the Wharton Graduate School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.

Johnson will join Evergreen on Feb. 15.