The Somerset Hospital Board of Directors is pleased to announce a comprehensive leadership succession plan that will position Somerset Hospital for success into the future. Key components of this plan include extending the contract of the current Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Farrell through December 31, 2013, and naming the current Chief Financial Officer Ronald Park as the future Chief Executive Officer.

"The Board of Directors believes that announcing this succession of management now will give everyone – staff, physicians, our partners and the surrounding community – confidence in our organization’s future direction," explains Bruce Shipley, Chairman of the Board of Somerset Hospital and the Somerset Hospital Foundation. "This plan is ideal because we retain for two years the benefit of Mike’s decades of experience, as well as his long-standing relationships with current partners, local community leaders and healthcare executives across the region. In addition, Ron has consistently shown during more than two decades with Somerset Hospital that he is the best choice to succeed Mike as CEO at the culmination of this transition process."

Park is a graduate of Waynesburg College (now Waynesburg University). He began his career at Price Waterhouse in 1980. In 1984, he was hired by Canonsburg General Hospital in Canonsburg, PA, and was promoted to CFO in 1986. After serving as the Director of Health Care Financial Services for Coopers & Lybrand in Pittsburgh for about one year, he was hired by Somerset Hospital in 1989.

"In a complex healthcare environment with continually evolving challenges, Somerset Hospital remains viable as a full-service community hospital," Park comments. "I am honored that the Board of Directors has confidence in my abilities and excited to be given the opportunity to learn from Mike during this transition phase. Our core beliefs and values have always been very much in line, and I anticipate strong continuity in the structure, culture and nature of our organization throughout this process. In the coming year, I look forward to increasing day-to-day interactions with employees and physicians, while striving to improve patient satisfaction."

During their tenure together, Farrell, Park and other hospital leaders have transformed a six-block area in downtown Somerset into a healthcare campus that includes a wide array of non-typical rural healthcare services, including interventional cardiology and a 16,000 square foot rehabilitation/hospital-based fitness and wellness center. Medical and radiation oncology is provided in a separate facility, and multiple medical office buildings are located on the campus. Other services include a sleep lab, a dialysis center, a cardiac catheterization laboratory, a pain management program, occupational health and community education. Round-the-clock emergency care is also provided by the hospital. Ancillary services include radiology, laboratory, rehabilitation and cardiopulmonary care. Within a few minutes from the main campus, a 6,000 square foot home provides inpatient hospice care. Inpatient and outpatient drug and alcohol services are provide at Twin Lakes Center, another off-campus private setting.

"Mike and Ron have been such a good team because Mike is a strategic thinker who many years ago envisioned the dramatic expansion of our small, rural hospital into a dynamic, full-service community healthcare organization," describes Shipley, "and Ron had the knowledge and the discipline to see that accomplishing this vision happened in a financially responsible manner."

Somerset Hospital’s continued growth has been strongly supported by its ability to consistently generate a positive margin, strengthening the balance sheet year over year, and allowing for significant investments in expanded facilities, technology (both clinical and information technology) and physician recruitment. Since its founding in 1921 as a 20-bed institution, Somerset Hospital has evolved into a multi-million dollar community asset with a total annualized budget of $75 million and a payroll of more than $24 million. Much of that evolution has happened under Farrell’s leadership.

Farrell has served as Chief Executive Officer of Somerset Hospital since 1980, when he was promoted from the position of Assistant Administrator. He also serves as President and CEO of the hospital’s affiliate organizations, including physician practices, behavioral health and chemical dependence services.

Farrell holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Robert Morris University and an MBA from Frostburg University. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), a Member of the Board of the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Board of Administrative Resources, Inc. and is one of six members of the Board of Directors of Amerinet. He also served for six years as the past Board Chairman of the Somerset Country Club, was named Somerset County’s Distinguished Citizen of the year by the Boy Scouts of America in 2010 and has been a member of the Somerset Rotary Club since 1970.

"I strongly agree with the Board’s decision, and I look forward to transitioning day-to-day operations to Ron gradually while maintaining continuity of leadership," says Farrell. "Ron has been an excellent CFO, and we have worked collaboratively for more than 20 years. As he assumes more of my current responsibilities in the coming year, I will have the opportunity to participate more actively in the hospital’s strategic planning processes, a capital fund drive and continued development of strategic relationships."

Somerset Hospital’s leadership succession plan is part of an organizational strategic planning process guided by the Board of Directors. The new strategic plan for Somerset Hospital will be finalized by the Board this spring and will provide strategic direction for hospital activities for the next three to five years. Farrell and Park will both be integrally involved in the process.

"The Board envisions a plan for the hospital that ensures both short-term success and long-term viability," concludes Shipley. "Significant regulatory changes due to healthcare reform, as well as other pressures in the evolving healthcare marketplace, will be at the forefront in the coming year. We are looking to Mike and Ron to guide us through these approaching challenges as Ron builds on the strong foundation Mike has laid these past 30 years."