LEWISTON — Five months after the head of Rumford and Bridgton hospitals resigned amid turmoil among those hospitals and Central Maine Healthcare, their parent organization, Rumford and Bridgton have a new leader.
Peter J. Wright will serve as president of Rumford and Bridgton hospitals starting in mid-March. (Photo courtesy Central Maine Healthcare)
Central Maine Healthcare officials announced Thursday that Peter J. Wright, 46, will take over as president starting in mid-March.
“I feel strongly that the key part of ‘community hospitals’ is ‘community,’” Wright said in a statement released by the health care organization. “We are there to serve, and it is critically important that we are an integral part of every aspect of what happens locally.”
Wright has served as president and CEO of Valley Regional Healthcare in Claremont, New Hampshire, for the past six years, according to Central Maine Healthcare. Prior to that, he served as chief operating officer at Littleton Regional Hospital in New Hampshire and senior director of planning, development and medical group operations at Copley Health Systems in Morrisville, Vermont.
Wright earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lyndon State College in Vermont, a master’s degree in administration from St. Michael’s College in Vermont and a master’s degree in health care delivery science from the Tuck School of Business/Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
He serves on the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Wright will take over from acting administrators Jill Rollins at Bridgton Hospital and Becky Hall at Rumford Hospital. Both will return to their roles as nursing directors.
Former President R. David Frum resigned in August. He had served as head of Bridgton Hospital since 2010 and head of Rumford Hospital since 2011.
He was one of the last senior leaders left from Central Maine Healthcare’s previous administration, before CEO Jeff Brickman took over.
Frum’s resignation came during a summer of turmoil among the hospitals and Central Maine Healthcare. In the weeks before, medical staff at Bridgton and Rumford both voted no confidence in Brickman. Soon after, medical staff at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Central Maine Healthcare’s flagship hospital, also voted no confidence in Brickman.
On July 31, Central Maine Healthcare’s board voted to keep Brickman, saying it supported him and his plans for the hospital system. Frum resigned the next day.
At the time, a Central Maine Healthcare spokeswoman said Frum “shared his belief that it was time for new leadership to carry things forward.”
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