Grady Memorial Hospital officials expect to name a new CEO by the first week of June, providing some permanent leadership to a hospital struggling to pay its bills and provide services, the head of the hospital nonprofit corporation said today.

Pete Correll, the chairman of the nonprofit, said about 12 candidates have expressed an interest in filling the top post at Atlanta's premiere trauma center and charity care facility.

He said he hopes a new CEO will be working at the hospital by midsummer.

Grady officials fired CEO Otis Story in January and replaced him temporarily with Pam Stephenson, the head of the Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority. Stephenson has drawn criticism for her increasing influence over the hospital system. She is the also the head of the authority board and the vice chairwoman of the Grady nonprofit.

Stephenson has expressed an interest in becoming the permanent CEO, but she has not formally declared she is a candidate.

Grady is in the midst of a significant transition as officials try to reverse years of multimillion-dollar deficits and neglected equipment. By the end of May, the Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority is expected to formally hand control of the hospital to the newly formed Grady nonprofit, a move expected to draw some $300 million is extra funding for the hospital.