News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2009
Contact: Joan Shnipper (jshnipper@umm.edu) 410-328-6776

CHESTER RIVER HEALTH SYSTEM ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW PRESIDENT

Jeffrey Johnson to move to VP Planning post at University of Maryland Medical System; James Ross, CEO of Kernan Hospital, to lead Chester River

The Board of Directors of Chester River Health System (CRHS) has announced the appointment of James E. Ross, FACHE, an experienced leader of community and specialty hospitals, to succeed Jeffrey Johnson, FACHE, as president of the health system.

The transfer of leadership at Chester River is set for Monday, January 18th.

Johnson, who has headed CRHS since 2008, will assume a new position as vice president of corporate planning for the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), the parent organization of CRHS. "My goal in coming to Chester River was to transition the health system successfully as it became part of UMMS. Now I look forward to returning to planning, which has been my longtime career focus," said Johnson, who served as senior vice president of system development and external operations at Shore Health System, Easton, before coming to Chester River.

Ross has served since 1994 as president and CEO of the James Lawrence Kernan Hospital, a specialty orthopaedic and rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore that is also a member of UMMS.

"Although I was not actively seeking another position, the privilege of leading a community hospital in a location as special as the Upper Eastern Shore was an opportunity I could not let pass," Ross said. "I know how much this community values its hospital and its physicians and how vital a role they play in the life of the community."

In announcing Ross' appointment, Wayne L. Gardner, Sr., chairman of the CRHS Board, welcomed him as "a multi-talented hospital leader who has demonstrated both exceptional management and people skills. Jim looks forward to relocating to Kent County and to becoming a presence in both the hospital and the community."

In addition to his current position at Kernan, Ross has served as chief executive officer at University Specialty Hospital and Montebello Rehabilitation Hospital, both in Baltimore. His health care career also includes service at the Shock Trauma Center of the University of Maryland Medical Center and at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lancaster, PA. Ross earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Baltimore, an MBA in health care administration from what is now Loyola University Maryland, and the Fellow certification of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Gardner said that Ross's experience working with community-based physicians in private practice and with academic-based physicians would serve Chester River well since both types of physician practices will be important to the health system’s future.

"My goal for the health system is to preserve its existing strengths and to build upon them in response to the changing health care needs and expectations of this community," Ross said of his new position. Among the opportunities he envisions is creating greater clinical synergies with other members of the University of Maryland Medical System, especially in clinical areas not now offered locally or in clinical areas where need exceeds existing capacity.

Ross described his leadership style as "hands-on, collaborative and inclusive." At Kernan Hospital, he noted, he is on a first-name basis with most staff members, the result of his belief in managing by being a visible presence in all areas of the hospital and at all hours of the day and night. Just as important as being visible to employees is being active and visible in the community, Ross added.

Ross has been an active community volunteer, both in Baltimore and Lancaster, and serves or has served on the governing or advisory boards of numerous organizations, including Alliance, Inc, which serves people with disabilities, the Arthritis Foundation, Easter Seal Society, B&O Railroad Museum, Coppin State University Nursing School and the Maryland Hospital Association. He is a graduate of Leadership Baltimore and Leadership Lancaster. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. He served for more than a decade in the Maryland National Guard.

"I look forward to becoming a part of this community and to embodying the values of caring, service and neighborliness that have always characterized this hospital and health system," he concluded.

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ABOUT CHESTER RIVER HEALTH SYSTEM:

Chester River Health System comprises Chester River Hospital Center, a 53-bed acute care community hospital; Chester River Manor, a 98-bed nursing and rehabilitation facility; and Chester River Home Care & Hospice. Together these three health care providers offer a continuum of care to meet the needs of approximately 45,000 residents of Kent and northern Queen Anne's counties.

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL SYSTEM:

The University of Maryland Medical System, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, is private, non-profit network of 11 academic, community and specialty hospitals throughout Maryland. The medical system includes the University of Maryland Medical Center, Kernan Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Hospital, University Specialty Hospital, Maryland General Hospital, Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Shore Health System (Memorial Hospital at Easton and Dorchester General Hospital in Cambridge), Chester River Health System and Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, which is owned jointly with the Johns Hopkins Health System. In July, UMMS announced a strategic affiliation with Upper Chesapeake Health System that is expected to lead to a full merger by 2013. Upper Chesapeake Health includes Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air and Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace. As the third-largest private employer in the Baltimore metro area, the University of Maryland Medical System generates nearly $3.5 billion in economic activity in Maryland and has $2.1 billion of operating revenues. UMMS employs 15,000 people, has more than 2,300 licensed beds and more than 115,000 annual patient admissions.


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