LRGHealth names CEO - Kevin Donovan to lead Lakes Region health care group as of next month

By MICHAEL KITCH, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — A week after the annual meeting of LRGHealthcare, the Board of Trustees announced yesterday that Kevin W. Donovan has been appointed president and chief executive officer, succeeding Seth Warren, who resigned suddenly in March.

Since 2010, Donovan, who lives in New London, New Hampshire, has served as president and chief executive officer of Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, Vermont. He will begin work at LRGHealthcare in the middle of next month.

During the search culminating in the appointment of Warren last October, providers, administrators and trustees tapped Donovan as their second choice. In reply to a question posed at the annual meeting last week, Scott Clarenbach, the chairman of the board said that negotiations were underway with one of the two finalists and indicated an announcement would soon be forthcoming. In a prepared statement, Carenbach said yesterday, "I was confident in our decision as a board to explore the opportunity with Kevin after Seth's resignation."

Donovan, whose family includes medical clinicians and hospital administrators, has worked in healthcare since the 1990s. Before joining Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, he served as a senior vice president at the Elliot Health System in Manchester, director at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, as well as an administrator of hospitals and physician practices in Massachusetts.

In a prepared statement, Donovan said, "I've been working towards a position such as the president and chief executive officer of LRGHealthcare for as long as I can remember. It has always been my goal to lead a full-service, community-focused hospital and health system like those I grew up around." He added that the position at LRGHealthcare represents an opportunity to achieve his professional goals and remain in New Hampshire, where he has raised four children for 17 years.

Donovan has held positions with a number of professional and civic organizations and is president-elect of the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives, a board member of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, a member of the American Hospital Association Small and Rural Governing Council and the Vermont Regent to the American College of Health Care Executives.

"Vermont Biz" reported that during Donovan's tenure at Mt. Ascutney Hospital he presided over "a hospital that was undergoing significant change and renewal. A major capital campaign led to facility upgrades and the opening of a new Rehabilitation Center." Donovan also oversaw adjustments to new regulatory challenges and created major community health outreach programs. Most recently Donovan worked to establish a successful affiliation with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

"Kevin," said Clarenbach, will be a leader who will be seen in our hallways as well as a visible member of our community."