Vermont Business Magazine Joseph Perras, MD, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC). The appointment follows months of collaborative work between the MAHHC Board of Trustees and senior leadership of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) to determine the right leadership for the Hospital. Perras’ appointment was approved by the Boards of both MAHHC and D-HH today. He will assume the CEO position effective January 11, 2017.
Joseph Perras, MD, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center. MAHHC photo.
Perras, who currently serves as MAHHC’s Chief Medical Officer, will continue in that role in addition to his new responsibilities. He first joined Mt Ascutney Hospital in 2013 as Director of Hospital Medicine, and became Chief Medical Officer in February of 2015.
Before joining Mt Ascutney Hospital, Dr Perras practiced at Dartmouth-Hitchcock for 12 years, where he served on the staff of Internal Medicine and was a founding physician within the Hospital Medicine practice. While there, he held clinical leadership positions including interim Section Chief of Hospital Medicine and Medical Director of Care Management. He currently serves on committees within OneCare Vermont, the accountable care organization that works with a network of providers to coordinate the health care of approximately 42,000 of Vermont’s 118,000 Medicare beneficiaries. He is also MAHHC’s primary clinical representative to Dartmouth–Hitchcock, its affiliated partner.
MAHHC Board Chair Donna Van Fleet called the appointment a boon for staff, patients, and the community.
“Joe Perras has spent time with patients in exam rooms and managed large hospital departments. He understands what we do at all levels, and he is admired at all levels, by the staff, by senior leaders at Mt. Ascutney and at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and by the Board of Trustees. He is the right person to lead Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center into the next chapter of our history.”
Dr James N Weinstein, CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, noted, “Dr. Perras is a skilled and dedicated physician leader. Our leadership team and I look forward to working with him in this new role as we partner together to create a sustainable health system for all the patients and families we serve.”
Perras will take over as CEO from Gay Landstrom, PhD, RN, who has served as interim CEO since June of 2016. Landstrom, who previously served as system wide Chief Nursing Officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, is returning to Michigan, where she will become Chief Nursing Officer for the St John Providence health system.
"There are not sufficient words to express Mt Ascutney’s gratitude for Gay’s interim leadership,” said MAHHC Board Chair Donna Van Fleet. “Gay wholly embraced the work and nurtured ongoing enhancements that will continue long after she has departed. She will be greatly missed.”
“I have so enjoyed the opportunity to work with the great staff and leaders at MAHHC,” said Landstrom. “This organization is blessed with smart and compassionate people, who use their talents to serve the needs of the community. While I have only been here for six months, I count the entire MAHHC community as family and will miss everyone. I look forward to working with Dr. Perras and the senior leadership team over the next month to effect a smooth transition.”
Source: Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center. 12.13.2016
Founded in 1933, Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center is a not-for-profit community hospital including the Critical Access-designated Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vermont, and Ottauquechee Health Center in Woodstock, Vermont. Affiliated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the Hospital provides people in communities across the Upper Connecticut River Valley with primary care and a comprehensive suite of specialty services, along with 25 inpatient beds, an Emergency Department, a therapeutic pool and an acclaimed Rehabilitation Center including ten inpatient beds. Mt. Ascutney Hospital is a recipient of the national Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service, one of the most prestigious awards in healthcare, and is accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) at the highest level possible.