Baystate Health Appoints Leaders of Regional Community Hospitals

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Health announced three leadership appointments for its regional community hospitals. Effective July 1, Steven Bradley will succeed Chuck Gijanto as president of Baystate Franklin Medical Center and the Baystate Northern Region. And effective immediately, Dennis Chalke has been named senior vice president of Community Hospitals for Baystate Health, an expansion of his current role as chief financial officer and treasurer, in which he will continue. Dr. M. Shafeeq Ahmed will continue in his role as chief operating officer and chief medical officer for Baystate Mary Lane Hospital, and will also serve as acting president of Baystate Mary Lane Hospital after Gijanto ends his tenure on July 1. Additional leadership appointments for the Baystate Eastern Region will be made at a later date, with Ahmed continuing to serve in a senior leadership role. “We’re pleased to share these leadership decisions, which are important ones for Baystate Health,” said Dr. Mark Keroack, the organization’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, who will assume the title of Baystate Health president and CEO on July 1. “One of our success factors for the very near future will be our ability to optimize the use of all our facilities, allowing patients to remain closer to home for more routine treatment and seek more complex care at our academic medical center in Springfield. This model brings us closer to Baystate’s stated vision of an integrated system of care. Our future will be one of integration — of team.” Bradley has served for 14 years as Baystate Health’s vice president for Government and Community Relations and Public Affairs. He led the team that garnered state approval for Baystate Medical Center’s $300 million Hospital of the Future project, and more recently helped facilitate a resolution to a lengthy labor dispute at Baystate Franklin Medical Center. “It is my honor to accept the leadership of this important and beloved community resource. I thank Chuck Gijanto for his leadership and his commitment, and I look forward to further strengthening Baystate’s bond with the Franklin County community,” said Bradley. Prior to joining Baystate Health, Bradley served as regional director for what was then known as the Mass. Department of Mental Retardation, where he carried administrative, financial, and regulatory responsibilities and provided leadership to 6,000 direct and contract employees serving thousands of patients and families in the region. Bradley also served as chief of staff to state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), and has grown to know Franklin County well in that role and in his subsequent positions. He has served as selectman in the town of Pelham, as board president for the Massachusetts Public Health Assoc., and is past chair of the board of trustees for Springfield Technical Community College and the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, Legislative Affairs Committee. Chalke currently serves as chief financial officer and treasurer for Baystate Health, and will continue in that role in addition to his new position as senior vice president of Community Hospitals. In his expanded role, he will oversee the presidents of Baystate’s community hospitals and regions. He has more than 26 years of healthcare experience, having joined Baystate in 1988. Chalke holds an MBA from UMass Amherst and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Ithaca College. At Baystate Mary Lane Hospital (BMLH), Ahmed’s responsibilities include leadership for inpatient and outpatient practice operations, hospital medical-staff oversight, provider recruitment, quality and patient-satisfaction program oversight, leadership development, strategic planning, and financial stewardship. He was recently named one of “100 Hospital and Health System Chief Medical Officers to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review. 
Prior to his arrival at BMLH, Ahmed had served as president of the medical staff, chief of ob/gyn and a member of the board of directors at the Naval Hospital – Cherry Point in North Carolina. Ahmed is also a member of the Baystate Medical Practices board of directors, and he has served as vice president of the BMLH medical staff. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Boston University and received his doctorate in medicine from Boston University School of Medicine, and completed his ob/gyn residency training through Tufts University at Baystate Medical Center.