Crouse Hospital names current CFO Boynton as its next CEO

SYRACUSE — The board of directors of Crouse Hospital in Syracuse on Wednesday announced that CFO Kimberly Boynton will replace Dr. Paul Kronenberg as CEO on Jan. 1.

Kronenberg has served as Crouse’s president and CEO since February 2004. The hospital appointed Boynton as CFO in October 2003, Crouse said.

Dr. Kronenberg has discussed succession planning with the board since early 2011, Patrick Mannion, board chairman, said in a news release.

“He had previously stated a desire to retire in 2012, but was asked to continue in the CEO role to oversee a number of strategic initiatives, which he graciously agreed to. With the board’s full confidence in Kimberly as his successor, Paul feels now is the right time for him to transition to another role within the organization,” Mannion said.

Kronenberg will next serve as vice chair of the board and will continue to serve as a member of the hospital’s senior-leadership team, Mannion said.

Boynton is a “dynamic, action-oriented leader” and “uniquely qualified” to assume the role of CEO, Mannion said.

“Her depth and breadth of experience within the Crouse system in virtually all operational areas of the organization, coupled with her loyalty to and passion for Crouse and her community engagement experience, give the board great confidence that she’s the right individual to move into this critical role at this important time,” he said.

As CFO, Boynton has been “instrumental” in the Stage 1 “meaningful use” roll-out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the federal law commonly referred to as the economic-stimulus package); the acquisition of Internist Associates of Central New York; the formation and integration of Crouse Medical Practice, PLLC (for which she currently serves as president); and construction of the hospital’s $53 million Witting Surgical Center and $13 million parking-garage projects, according to Crouse.

Boynton was also an “original core group participant” in Crouse’s efforts to “transform the culture of the organization” following its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2003, the hospital said.

In her current role, Boynton’s responsibilities “go far beyond what would be considered the normal scope” of a CFO role, Mannion said.

In addition to overseeing all day-to-day finance and business-office functions for the hospital, Boynton also has oversight of information technology; health-information management; patient access; engineering and facilities; housekeeping; purchasing; materials management; and construction-management functions for the 506-bed hospital, he added.

Boynton started at Crouse in 1998 as a finance analyst and has been part of the hospital’s senior-leadership team since 2004. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Crouse Hospital, located at 736 Irving Ave. in Syracuse, employs more than 2,700 people. The private, not-for-profit hospital is licensed for 506 acute-care beds and 57 bassinets. It serves more than 23,000 inpatients, 66,000 emergency-services patients, and 250,000 outpatients a year in a 15-county area.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com