Vashon Community Care (VCC) will soon be looking for a new administrator, as current administrator Janelle Ansell has given her notice and will leave next month.

A press release last week said Ansell is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Reached Monday, Ansell declined to comment about her resignation.

VCC board president Valerie Howe, who assumed her position last month after serving on the board for one year, expressed appreciation for Ansell and her tenure at the center.

“We watched her do some wonderful things,” Howe said. “We appreciate the work she did.”

Truman O’Brien, the head of the new Vashon Community Care Found-ation, said everyone wishes Ansell well, but also noted that change is healthy for organizations.

“Every three to five years you should have change,” he said.

Ansell came to VCC in January of 2011 and served during the refinancing of its HUD loan last year and spearheaded the creation of VCC’s rehabilitation services for residents and other community members.

Judy Beggs, who previously held a nursing leadership role at VCC, will assume operational responsibilities for VCC while the recruitment process for a new administrator is under way. Beggs is pursuing an internship to receive her administrator’s license, Howe noted.

“We are trying to catch our breath while we make ourselves stable in terms of who is going to do what, and then we will start the (search) process,” Howe said.

Howe noted that VCC is in a time of transition in several ways, having recently lost some board members and welcomed others, including Shawn Hoffman and Susan Hanson, who were recently elected. A strategic planning process is also under way.

Despite the financial benefits of refinancing, Howe said VCC must still raise $300,000 every year. So far this year, she said, $102,000 has been raised, and fundraising will continue.

“We need more awareness about what we do here,” Howe said. “It is different than what happens in the rest of the country.”