When Jill Marshall takes over as chief executive officer of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, she will face many challenges, not the least of which is a staffing shortage of nurses and other essential positions.

Marshall, a former director of the New Mexico intermediate center for the disabled, will begin her duties here next week. She succeeds Teresa Bernal, who has served as interim chief since Dec. 1. The most recent permanent superintendent, Ron Hale, resigned last June after CMHIP failed a state staffing inspection that, at the time, put the hospital’s Medicare funding in jeopardy.

The Colorado Department of Human Services, which administratively oversees CMHIP, since has moved to secure the state government’s support for increasing the hospital’s salaries, especially for nurses who are in high demand.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.