AHA Names New Trustees to the Board

WASHINGTON (August 6, 2019) — The American Hospital Association (AHA) has elected seven new members to its Board of Trustees for three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2020. The Board of Trustees is the highest policymaking body of the AHA and has ultimate authority for the governance and management of its direction and finances.

 

Incoming members of the AHA Board of Trustees include:

Michael Charlton, president and CEO of ICON Hospitality in Galloway, N.J. Charlton founded ICON Hospitality, the parent organization for several subsidiary businesses in the southeastern New Jersey area. He previously served as vice president of finance at MFA Properties and Development.

Charlton has served on the AHA’s Committee on Governance since 2017 and is the current chairman of the board of trustees of AtlantiCare, a member of Geisinger Health. AtlantiCare is the region’s largest healthcare organization, serving the community in nearly 100 locations throughout five counties in New Jersey, and a 2009 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winner. Charlton serves as chairman of the AtlantiCare Executive Compensation Committee and is a member of its Finance and Governance Committees. He also served on AtlantiCare’s Strategic Growth Task Force and co-chaired AtlantiCare’s Mainland Modernization Campaign. 

Charlton is also is a member of the board of directors for Geisinger Health based in Danville, Pa., and the Geisinger Health Plan board of directors.

He attended the University of Delaware in Newark and is married with one daughter.

 

Joanne Conroy, M.D., CEO and president of Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, in Lebanon, N.H. In this role, Dr. Conroy leads a nonprofit academic health system – the state’s largest private employer – that includes Dartmouth-Hancock Medical Center, the system’s 396-bed flagship teaching hospital; the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, a multi-specialty group practice employing more than 1,800 providers; the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center; a children’s hospital; four affiliated member hospitals; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 ambulatory care clinics around the state.

Prior to joining Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Dr. Conroy was CEO of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, a large, integrated delivery system with more than 1,400 physicians, 18,000 employees and $4 million in grant funding for medical research.

Dr. Conroy is board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiologists. She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College and a medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, where she completed her residency in anesthesiology and served as chief resident for one year.

 

Wright Pinson, M.D., deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. The health system includes more than 2,000 academic clinical physicians, five hospitals and 800 clinics in 130 locations. He also serves as president and chairman of the board of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, a 69-hospital affiliated system covering Tennessee and now expanding outside the state.

Previously, Dr. Pinson served as the associate vice-chancellor for clinical affairs and chief medical officer, and from 1997-2004 as chief of staff of the Vanderbilt Hospitals.

Dr. Pinson is a member of AHA’s Health Care Systems Council. He currently serves on the board of the Nashville Areas Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the board of the Tennessee Hospital Association. In 2016, he received the Regional Healthcare Executive of the Year Award from The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).

He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s in business administration from the University of Colorado. He received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. 

 

Roxie Wells, M.D., president of Cape Fear Valley Hoke Healthcare in Hoke County, N.C., where she manages one of Cape Fear Valley Health’s hospitals and multi-disciplinary outpatient facilities. She also serves as an associate chief medical officer for the system.

In her leadership roles, Dr. Wells has served as president of Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital. In her role as president, she partnered with Bladen Community College to provide nursing scholarships for students and a grant for a nursing instructor which has allowed for the expansion of the nursing program at the college. She also formed partnerships with the Bladen County Health Department and EMS. In addition, she increased the community’s access to primary care by establishing additional community clinics and pioneering telehealth technology in the community. 

Dr. Wells is a member of AHA’s Committee on Clinical Leadership and Future of Rural Health Care Task Force. She is an active member of the North Carolina Healthcare Association (NCHA) and is a member at-large of NCHA’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee, as well as the Executive Compensation Committee and the Finance, Audit and Administration Committee. She is a member of the board of directors for Carolina Collaborative Community Care Network and serves as a member of the Kate B. Reynold’s Charitable Trust Health Improvement Advisory Committee. Dr. Wells also serves as an advisory board member for BB&T bank. 

She received an undergraduate degree from Fayetteville State University and a medical degree from East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine.

 

Mary Maertens, regional president and CEO of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Marshall, Minn. After starting her career as a registered nurse, she held several nursing and leadership roles at Avera Marshall assuming the CEO role in 2007.

She serves on the Minnesota Hospital Association board of directors, as chair and as member of the executive committee, mission and vision committee, and nurse staffing committee. As a board member, Maertens will chair the AHA’s Regional Policy Board 6. Maertens is also a fellow of ACHE.

She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from South Dakota State University and a nursing home administrator license and master’s degree in health administration from the University of Minnesota.

 

Mary Mannix, FACHE, president and CEO of Augusta Health, a 255-bed health system in Fisherville, Va. In this role, Mannix leads the largest employer in the Shenandoah Valley region, with approximately 2,300 employees and 490 providers on its medical staff.

Mannix is past chair of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association’s (VHHA) board of directors and is past chair of the board of directors for both Virginia Solution and Solution Services Corporation. As an AHA board member, she will chair AHA’s Regional Policy Board 3 and is a member of the VHHA board of directors, serving on its executive committee and foundation board.

She earned a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing, as well as graduate degrees in nursing and business administration, from Binghamton University-the State University of New York. She also completed a postgraduate two-year fellowship in healthcare administration with the Guthrie Clinic.

 

Ron Werft, president and CEO of Cottage Health, a nonprofit hospital system providing acute inpatient, outpatient and emergency care, based in Santa Barbara, Calif. In this role, Werft manages hospitals in Santa Barbara, Goleta and the Santa Ynez Valley that offer a range of services, including a rehabilitation hospital and children’s medical center.

Werft is past chair of the California Hospital Association and Hospital Association of Southern California and serves on the board of Vizient West Coast. He was awarded the 2013 CHA Award of Merit for outstanding contribution to the California health care community and the 2015 Walker-Sullivan Fellowship presented by California Health Foundation & Trust. As an AHA Board member, he will chair AHA’s Regional Policy Board 9.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s in hospital and health care administration from the University of Minnesota.

 

Sylvia Young, president and CEO of HCA Healthcare’s Continental Division, a health care system serving the Denver and Wichita, Kan., areas, was also named to a full term on the board after receiving a midterm appointment earlier in the year.  

 

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Contact:        

Marie Johnson, (202) 626-2351, mjohnson@aha.org

Sean Barry, (202) 626-2306, sbarry@aha.org

 

About the American Hospital Association

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.