Lifespan’s new chairman, Alfred J. Verrecchia, says there are no plans to change the strategic direction of Rhode Island’s largest health system. “The board’s role and my role as chairman is to provide support and oversight to Lifespan’s management and make sure what it does is consistent with our overall mission,” said Verrecchia, who was unanimously elected by Lifespan’s board of directors at its annual meeting Dec. 18. “I’m honored to serve as chairman, especially following people like Judge (Bruce) Selya and Bunny (Barnet) Fain.” By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito… Fain had served as chairman since 1999 and was in line for a third and final one-year term as Lifespan’s chairman, but the board at its Nov. 13 meeting voted 12-8 against supporting his nomination. Fain remains on the Lifespan board as chairman of its quality oversight committee. Selya was Lifespan’s chairman during the system’s first five years and also remains on the 20-member board. Verrecchia, of Warwick, is president and chief operating officer of Pawtucket toy and game company Hasbro Inc. and has been a Lifespan board member since 1996, serving as chairman of its finance committee since 1998. He has served on the Bradley Hospital board of trustees since 1986. If there had been questions regarding Fain’s leadership or the course of Lifespan with Fain as chairman, Verrecchia did not identify them during a recent interview. ”I certainly don’t think my becoming chairman is going to change the mission of Lifespan at all, nor do I think the mission was changed when Bunny Fain followed Judge (Bruce) Selya,” Verrecchia said. Both he and Lifespan CEO George A. Vecchione denied that there had been concerns about the health system’s direction during the past two years under Fain. Fain in a recent phone interview declined to comment on the board’s vote against his nomination. He said Verrecchia was “supported unanimously by the board and I think all the board members have confidence in his ability to lead the system.” Vecchione said Lifespan’s focus in coming years will be on enhancing patient care and improving efficiencies, rather than adding to the system, which includes Miriam, Newport, Bradley and Rhode Island hospitals and New England Medical Center in Boston. The system employs more than 10,000 people and had gross revenues of $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2000. ”We’re not focused on growth,” Vecchione said. “If the appropriate opportunity came along, we would evaluate it carefully and then decide. But we’re focused on internals right now, both from a quality-of-care perspective and from an efficiency perspective.” Vecchione also said the network has outlined a three-year plan to eliminate its operating losses, which totaled $34.3 million during fiscal year 2000. Results from the past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, have not been released. Vecchione said the plan is for Lifespan to break even by the end of fiscal year 2004. Verrecchia said the results of Lifespan’s efforts to create efficiencies among its affiliate members, such as the network’s new integrated information system, are beginning to show and should continue to improve quality of care and operating results. “Lifespan has been remarkable with its accomplishments over the last five years, given the tough environment it’s had to operate in,” Verrecchia said. “I’m very excited about the opportunities ahead.” Members of Miriam’s board of trustees nominated Verrecchia. It was the third and final year that Miriam trustees were charged with nominating a chairman, based on agreements in the merger that created the Lifespan system in 1994. For the last two years Miriam trustees had nominated Fain, who once served as chairman of the hospital’s board of trustees. Rhode Island Hospital’s board had the right to nominate the Lifespan chairman for the first three years after the merger, and each year chose Selya, who stayed an extra two years as chairman with the consent of each of the affiliate hospital boards. Starting next year, Lifespan’s board officers – including the chairman, vice chairs and secretary – will be chosen by a nominating committee composed of two Lifespan board members and three people from Lifespan’s board of governors. That board will consist of 75 to 125 people chosen from the community at large, according to John Gillespie, senior vice president of Lifespan.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
