Thundermist names new CEO

WOONSOCKET – Charles “Chuck” T. Jones was appointed president and CEO of Thundermist Health Center on Oct. 24 in a vote by the health center’s board of directors. Jones, who had been serving as interim CEO, succeeds Maria Montanaro, who retired in June after serving 14 years as president and CEO. Jones had previously served as Thundermist’s chief information officer.
With potential new owners – the Massachusetts-based, for-profit Steward Health Care hospital system – and a new proposed name for the former Landmark Medical Center – Blackstone Medical Center, Jones said the future landscape for health care in Woonsocket had opportunities for both collaboration and competition, from Thundermist’s perspective.
“Our patients receive a wide range of services,” Jones said. “Some of our services are best suited to take place here in Woonsocket; some are best diverted to tertiary hospitals in downtown Providence.”
In regard to the former Landmark Medical Center, Jones said that in the future the acute care community hospital will need to provide a full range of services, with a high level of quality within its network.
Jones said that Thundermist has been aggressive in seeking to meet the needs of the uninsured, underinsured and the medically underserved in Rhode Island, operating health centers in both Woonsocket and West Warwick. “To date, we’ve been able to expand, and we’ve done that [without] cost to anyone else in the health delivery system,” Jones said. “We’re attempting to meet the needs of the community where we see gaps.”
Jones spoke proudly of Thundermist’s community dental program, as well as its school-based health centers in Woonsocket and West Warwick.
Looking to the future, Jones said that he does not envision further immediate growth for Thundermist – or expansion into Massachusetts. “Our critical challenge right now is using the tools we’ve building in technology – we’ve achieved Level Three status as a patient-centered medical home – to deliver demonstratively high quality health care efficiently,” he said. That is the best position for Thundermist to maintain, he continued, saying the health center would consider “relationships with partners who are interested in creating a sustainable, vertically aligned health care system.”