TOWNSHEND — The Board of Trustees of Grace Cottage Hospital/Carlos G. Otis Health Care Center announces the appointment of Roger Allbee as chief executive officer and administrator, effective immediately.
Allbee, interim CEO since January, 2014, will oversee the operations of Grace Cottage Hospital/Carlos G. Otis Health Care Center.
A Townshend resident, Allbee has served on the Grace Cottage Hospital Board of Trustees since 2003; he's served on Grace Cottage Foundation's board of directors for the past seven years.
He was Vermont's secretary of agriculture, food, and markets from 2007 to 2011 under Gov. Jim Douglas; prior to that he was Vermont's executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics from the University of Vermont, and a Master of Science from the University of Massachusetts.
“Grace Cottage represents in its patient care the future of what health care is all about, and I'm excited to be a part of it,” Allbee said in a prepared statement.
The Board of Trustees also announced that Jeanne Fortier is now the chief operating officer at Grace Cottage Hospital; she has been serving as interim COO.
A graduate of Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Fortier received her MBA from Boston University's Graduate School of Management, with a concentration in health care management.
Prior to coming to Grace Cottage, Fortier worked at Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she was vice president of Patient Care Services. She came to Grace Cottage Hospital in 2008 as chief nursing officer.
GCH to remain independent
The Boards of Trustees of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and Grace Cottage Hospital have engaged in discussions since last spring about how the two organizations might collaborate to address the health care needs of patients in Windham County.
The process included input from patients, the public, and medical staffs of both organizations.
In a joint statement last week. the boards announced they ultimately determined that Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and Grace Cottage Hospital will continue to work together but will remain independent, separate entities.