Catholic Medical Center said that Alyson Pitman Giles will step down as president and CEO (PDF) of the 233-bed hospital in Manchester, N.H.

Dr. Joe Pepe, chief medical officer at Catholic Medical Center, will act as interim CEO during the recruitment and selection of a new leader, according to a statement released by the hospital.

Giles will stay with Catholic Medical Center as a “transition consultant” until June 30 and will be involved with the selection of a new president and CEO, the hospital also said. She is 58.

“It's a great time to turn the page and start the next chapter,” Giles said in the written statement. “I look forward to helping and identifying an individual who will embrace our mission, Catholic identity and love of our CMC family.”

Giles took over as president and CEO of Catholic Medical Center in 1998 when a merger between the hospital and Elliot Hospital, also located in Manchester, dissolved. She had previously served as executive vice president and COO, and is a former president and CEO of New London Hospital in New Hampshire.

Catholic Medical Center later proposed an affiliation agreement with Dartmouth Hitchcock Health, the company that owns the 372-bed Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. The state attorney general objected to the proposed agreement in 2010 and the two organizations announced that they had withdrawn their affiliation proposal in April.

Giles was named one of Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Women in Healthcare in 2007.