UTICA — The incoming president and CEO of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) acknowledges that “there is much work ahead.” Darlene Stromstad said she is “eager” to begin working with employees, physicians, unions, community leaders and the board in “building a new era in health care in the region.” “I look forward to quickly […]
UTICA — The incoming president and CEO of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) acknowledges that “there is much work ahead.”
Darlene Stromstad said she is “eager” to begin working with employees, physicians, unions, community leaders and the board in “building a new era in health care in the region.”
“I look forward to quickly getting acquainted with the community and all the people who will be instrumental in charting the next course for the future of MVHS,” Stromstad said in an MVHS news release.
Stromstad’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2019.
She’ll replace Scott Perra, the current MVHS president and CEO, who earlier this year announced his planned retirement.
In announcing her appointment, Joan Compson, chair of the MVHS board of directors, said the board search committee had been looking for a “high-caliber leader for the growing organization and they found that in Ms. Stromstad.”
“We look forward to a future under Darlene’s leadership and are excited about the key role she will play in advancing our health system’s mission of providing excellence in health care for our communities,” Compson said. “With Darlene’s dedicated service and extensive healthcare knowledge and experience, we are confident that the Mohawk Valley Health System will continue to thrive.”
About the new MVHS CEO
Stromstad has “decades of experience in health care and has led a variety of health-care organizations across the country,” per the release.
She most recently served as interim CEO of Fenway Health in Boston, Massachusetts, described as “one of the nation’s premier and largest federally qualified health centers.”
Prior to that, Stromstad was president/CEO of Waterbury Hospital and the Greater Waterbury Health Network (now known as Waterbury HEALTH) in Connecticut.
She had previously served as president and CEO of Goodall Hospital in Sanford, Maine, where she was “instrumental” in strengthening the hospital’s finances and expanding health-care services for the community.
“I am delighted to be joining MVHS at this exciting time in its history,” Stromstad said. “It’s amazing how this organization has evolved from three distinct hospitals into a robust health system and is now on the precipice of building a new, state-of-the-art medical center. My congratulations to MVHS president/CEO Scott Perra and the board, and to all the stakeholders who had the vision and worked tirelessly to make this happen.”
Perra began his work at St. Luke’s-Memorial Hospital Center in 1985. He served in a leadership role through the consolidation of Faxton Hospital to form Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH), and again with the affiliation of FSLH and St. Elizabeth Medical Center to form MVHS.
Perra was “instrumental” in the effort to form MVHS and has “helped create the opportunity” for MVHS to build a new, downtown hospital, the release stated.
MVHS on Oct. 26 revealed the exterior design of its planned 373-bed, 672,000-square-foot hospital in downtown Utica.