 | J. Ronald Gaudreault, LFACHE |
J. Ronald Gaudreault is an experienced and regionally recognized healthcare executive. Until his very recent retirement, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Huntington Hospital, Long Island, New York, a position he held for 18 years. . His career at this hospital spans over four decades in various administrative capacities, including 12 years as VP for Human Resources. He has facilitated three major expansion and development programs, including a fully integrated, free standing family health center which provides nearly 30,000 patient visits annually.
Huntington Hospital enjoys a strategic corporate alliance with the $4.5 billion North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Mr. Gaudreault was instrumental in forging this partnership during the formative stage of the Health System in the early 1990s and served on its governing board.
Mr. Gaudreault is a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Life Member of the American Hospital Association. He previously served on the AHAs Regional Policy Board. He is a past Chairman of the Board of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council which represents 23 hospitals and a past Chairman of the Board of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) which represents over 550 hospitals and continuing care providers. He has had a distinguished record of leadership service with both of these organizations over many years. Additionally, he has served on the Suffolk County Executive’s Blue Ribbon Health Committee and, more recently, on the Long Island Regional Advisory Committee of the New York State Committee on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. He is currently a member of the Suffolk County Board of Health.
During his career he has actively participated in numerous community and civic activities including a past Director of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, past President of the Huntington Rotary Club, an officer of Rotary International and currently as an elected Trustee of the Northport-East Northport Public library. He continues to provide consultancy services to the executive management team of the Huntington Hospital and serves as a trustee of the institution. He is a member of the hospital’s Institutional Review Board and a member of the Conflict of Interest Committee of the Biomedical Research Alliance Board of New York (BRANY). Mr. Gaudreault is a Charter and Life Member of the Dolan Family Health Center Advisory Board.
In 2005, he was the recipient of the HANYS Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the health care community, and he also received the Theodore Roosevelt Award for Distinguished Community Service from Huntington Hospital.
Mr. Gaudreault received his Master’s degree from the University of Iowa and his Bachelor’s degree from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts.
MANAGEMENT-His areas of expertise as CEO of a high performance healthcare organization, combined with his health system experience where he interacted with trustees, physician leaders, department heads and hospital staff members include operations, planning, marketing, communications, service quality, healthcare financing, reimbursement, budgeting and fiscal management of a $200 million organization. Huntington Hospital was the first in the county and the 10th in the nation to receive the Magnet designation for nursing excellence in 2004.
- FUND RAISING- Under his leadership, the hospital has been exceptionally successful in raising millions of dollars both in capital and annual giving campaigns.
- GOVERNANCE- Having served on many boards at all levels of leadership, he has extensive governance experience. He is well qualified to assist others with practical models of effective governance function and structure for changing times. Mr. Gaudreault contributed to the development of hospital board accountability guidelines for hospital trustees which received national recognition in 2004.
- ADVOCACY- His work on a statewide level earned him respect and credibility among his colleagues and others in business and government. He has been a strong advocate for health care reform and has worked tirelessly for additional funding for hospitals and nursing homes in both Capitals in Washington D.C. and Albany, New York. He successfully lobbied for federal funding for the care of undocumented immigrants in 2003.
- LEGISLATIVE- He was invited periodically to meet with newspaper editorial boards and participated in many federal and state legislative advocacy initiatives.
- EDUCATION- In the area of healthcare education, he has previously served as Adjunct Preceptor and Clinical Associate at several academic institutions including Ithaca College, Washington University, the University of Iowa and Long Island University.
- QUALITY- He understands how organizations can create momentum for change and improvement by engaging the hospital and medical staffs. He has provided oversight and leadership to the development of a comprehensive quality improvement program. His hospital was an early participant in the CMS pilot of the Hospital Quality Initiative to publicly report quality data and the IHI 5 Million Lives Campaign.