Please select an employee:
David R. Lincoln
Susan McDonough
John Ahle
Anne Berger
Kenneth R. Ferron
Nancy Mulvihill
David Fraser
Sr. Catherine O'Connor
Louise Clough
Susan Dow
Paul Ercolini
Mary Ann Outwater
JoAnn Santiago
Mary Schaefer
MC Sullivan
Joseph O'Connell
David R. Lincoln, FACHE
President and Chief Executive Officer
David R. Lincoln is President/CEO of Covenant Health Systems. He has held this position since 1989 providing leadership to the diverse health and human service organizations which comprise the system, including acute care, assisted living, skilled nursing and elderly housing. He is responsible for developing and implementing corporate strategies, system integration and operational performance. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Covenant. Prior to his current position, Mr. Lincoln was Covenant’s Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Planning and had originally joined the senior management team of Covenant in 1984.
Prior to joining Covenant, Mr. Lincoln held several senior administrative positions at Memorial Health System and Memorial Hospital, South Bend, Indiana. In those positions, he provided leadership in strategic planning, sales, marketing and new service development at Memorial. In addition, Mr. Lincoln has served as adjunct faculty at Notre Dame and the University of Lowell teaching Masters level students strategic business planning. Mr. Lincoln has served on numerous boards of not-for-profit organizations involved in healthcare delivery. He is currently the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Stewardship Trustees of Catholic Health Initiatives. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Catholic Healthcare Partners and served as the first lay Chairperson of the Corporate Member. He has served as past Chairperson president of the American Hospital Association’s Society for Health Care Planning and Marketing, and he currently serves as the Immediate Past Chairperson of the American Hospital Association’s Governing Council for Health Care Systems. He is a past officer of the Board of Trustees of the New England Healthcare Assembly, is the immediate past Chairperson of Yankee Alliance and is the former Chairperson and Speaker of the Membership Assembly for the Catholic Health Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a member of the National Coalition of Catholic Healthcare Ministry and a member of the National Advisory Board of the American Hospital Association Center for Healthcare Governance.
Mr. Lincoln received a Bachelor of Arts degree, Cum Laude from Middlebury College and Masters Degrees in Regional Planning and Health Care Administration from the University of Iowa.
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Susan McDonough, FACHE
Vice President, Strategy & System Development
Susan McDonough, Vice President, Strategy & System Development for Covenant Health Systems, Inc., is responsible for creating system-wide strategy and new business development. She provides strategic planning, oversees advocacy efforts for the System, analyzes new business and acquisition opportunities, supports operational improvement initiatives in acute care organizations and directs start-up management and operational support services to long term care, residential care, assisted living facilities and community based programs. Ms. McDonough directs Covenant’s consulting services in areas of strategy, planning, development, construction and regulatory compliance for congregations, dioceses, and other not-for-profit organizations.
Prior to joining Covenant, Ms. McDonough was a principal with the firm Lanzikos, McDonough & Associates, a Boston-based management consulting firm specializing in elder care. In this position she provided a wide range of consulting services to hospitals, sub-acute providers, long term care facilities, assisted living residences, community based providers and religious congregations. During her more than 30 years in the field of aging, she has also served as the State Long Term Care Ombudsman for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is licensed as both a nursing home administrator and social worker and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Ms. McDonough is currently a board member for LeadingAge, a national association of not-for-profit elder care providers based in Washington, DC, and serves as a board member for Presence Health, the recently merged Resurrection and Provena Health Care Systems in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. McDonough is a past Chairperson of the Board of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Association and is a current member of its Advisory Committee and its Development & Finance Committee. In recent years, she has held various governance positions, including serving on the Finance and Strategy Committee of CHRISTUS Health Care, Texas, and as a board member for the US Catholic Health Association, the Massachusetts Aging Services Association (now LeadingAge Massachusetts), and several long term care facilities. Ms. McDonough holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the School of Management at Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross.
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John M. Ahle
Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer
John M. Ahle is the Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer of Covenant Health Systems. Mr. Ahle coordinates the financial and capital access functions for the system and its member organizations. Prior to joining the System in 2008, Mr. Ahle was Senior Vice President-Finance and CFO at St. Vincent’s Health System in Bridgeport, CT and Vice President-Finance at The Stamford Hospital. Over the past 27 years, he has developed expertise in strategic financial planning, revenue cycle management, budget and decision support, tax exempt financing and financial reporting. Mr. Ahle is a Certified Public Accountant and a Fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Mr. Ahle has served on the boards and board committees for Junior Achievement, Ascension Health, Connecticut Hospital Association, University of Connecticut and St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Ahle also volunteers in the amateur radio (ham) community. He holds a BBA from Pace University and an MBA from the University of New Haven.
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Anne Berger, PhD, MBA, RN, CPHQ
Vice President, Quality Improvement and Safety
Anne Berger is Vice President of Quality Improvement and Safety. She is responsible for overseeing quality and performance improvement, patient safety, risk management, and corporate compliance activities at the system level. She also collaborates with quality and patient safety leadership of member organizations in their continuous efforts to improve quality and patient safety, and to promote Covenant’s mission and values.
Prior to joining Covenant she served as Vice President of Clinical Quality for CVS Caremark Minute Clinic, the largest provider of retail health care in the U.S., serving over a million patients annually in 27 states. Before joining CVS, she was Director of Nursing Systems Research for Children’s Hospital Boston. As a member of the senior nursing/patient care services leadership team, she was responsible for the development, analysis and reporting of quality performance measures, taught evidence based practice, co-chaired the Nursing Research Council and secured over $5 million in funding. She has over 30 years of experience in nursing and healthcare quality.
She is currently an Editorial Board Member for the Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, and has a visiting scholar appointment at the Boston College Connell School of Nursing. She served on the Advisory Committee for the PhD Nursing program at Northeastern University’s Bouve College of Health Sciences, and was a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association’s (MHA) Clinical Issues Advisory Committee from 2007-2009. She serves as a reviewer for several professional journals and publishers, and has also served as a reviewer for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Special Emphasis Panels, and several small grant programs.
Dr. Berger holds a PhD in Nursing from Boston College, an MS in Forensic Nursing and a BS in Nursing from Fitchburg State College, an MBA from Rivier College, and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ). She has also completed the Disparities Leadership Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Disparities Solutions Center, and the Harvard Business School Program for Children’s Hospital Safety and Quality Leadership.
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Kenneth R. Ferron
Vice President, Elder Services Operations
Kenneth R. Ferron is Vice President, Elder Services Operations for Covenant Health Systems. He is responsible for management operations for multiple organizations within the system, including all Long Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities, and Home Care. Additionally, he is involved with several system programs including liability insurance coverage, risk management, supply chain analysis, and corporate compliance. Mr. Ferron provides analysis and management services in various areas, including managed care. He is a Member of the American College of Healthcare Administrators, Health Care Management Association and the Health Care Compliance Association. He is a Board Member of Covenant Health Systems Insurance Limited (CHSI Limited), as well as several facility boards.
Prior to joining Covenant, Mr. Ferron held several senior positions, including Executive Vice President/COO, St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, NH; Executive Vice President, St. John's Hospital, Lowell, MA; and Senior Associate at the Massachusetts Hospital Association. He has over 30 years of experience in senior healthcare management, including hospitals and physician practices.
Mr. Ferron received a B.S. degree in Business Administration/Economics from Lowell Technological Institute, and a Master's Degree in Hospital Administration and a MBA from the University of Florida.
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Nancy Mulvihill
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Nancy Mulvihill, Vice President, Corporate Communications, is responsible for creating, developing and directing Covenant’s public relations, national and local media relations, internal and external communications including newsletters, publications, video productions, and advertising. She provides the same support, including crises communication management, to Covenant-related organizations as needed. She also promotes and represents Covenant’s interests and services to national and regional media, groups and organizations. She chairs Covenant’s system-wide environment Committee.
Prior to joining Covenant Ms. Mulvihill served as Director of Public Relations for eight years at Youville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, in Cambridge Massachusetts, a member organization of Covenant Health Systems. She has received over 50 awards from professional societies for magazines, brochures, calendars and audiovisual productions. She is a member of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development and the Public Relations Society of America. She is on the Board of MassAging and Neighbors Who Care.
Ms. Mulvihill holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Lesley College and a Master’s Degree in English Literature from DePaul University.
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David C. Fraser
Vice President of Human Resources SPHR
David Fraser is the Vice President of Human Resources for Covenant. His responsibility is to coordinate and direct efforts that respond to organizational human resource and leadership development needs at the system level, with individual facilities, and at the system office.
Prior to joining Covenant, David was the Vice President of Human Resources of a multi-site Human Services corporation with over 1,700 employees. From 1986-1995 he held the position of Director of Human Resources at Boston University Medical Center Hospital. From 1980-1986 he served as the Dean of Internship, Placement and Personnel Services at Endicott College. He is a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Human Resources Association, the New England Human Resources Association, American Society of Human Resources and the Society of Human Resources Management.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College and a Master’s Degree in Education from Antioch College. He earned a certificate in Human Resources Administration from Bentley College and received SPHR certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute.
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Sr. Catherine O’Connor, CSB, Ph.D.
Vice President, Mission and Sponsorship
Sr. Cathy O ‘Connor is Vice President for Mission and Sponsorship at Covenant Health System in Lexington, MA. She is responsible for the effective integration of Covenant’s mission, values and elements of Catholic identity within the system. Sr. Cathy oversees Covenant’s mission effectiveness education and spiritual care initiatives, the pain management/palliative care workgroup. She also leads and supports processes for continuous learning about issues and activities to strengthen the Catholic healthcare ministry; including Catholic Identity, care of the poor and underserved, ethics, social justice, social accountability, and sponsorship. She represents Covenant in the national collaborative formation program for Public Juridic Person.
Prior to joining Covenant Sr. Cathy served as Senior Vice President, Mission Integration & Organizational Development at Caritas Christi Health Care. Sr. Cathy has been on the faculty of the Oblate School of Theology, and has taught graduate courses at Blessed Pope John XXIII seminary, St. John’s Seminary and currently teaches at Boston College. She developed and administered Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programs, served on the national certification commission of NACC, the Accreditation Board of ministry programs for the USCCB, and the Board of Catholic Charities in San Antonio, Texas.
Sr. Cathy is a member of the Congregation of St. Brigid, an international community founded in Ireland, and she has served on the International Leadership Team of her Congregation. She has a PhD in pastoral psychology from Boston University, an MA in Mental Health Counseling from St. Mary’s University in Texas and a MTS in Historic-Systematic Theology from the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. She was a postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology at the Danielsen Institute, Boston University. She is a licensed psychologist, a certified CPE supervisor, and a Diplomate in the American Psychotherapy Association (DAPA). She has a certification in Organizational Development from Linkage/DePaul University, and is a certified coach. Sr. Cathy studied at Louvain, and did cross-cultural study of Spanish Language and Culture in Ecuador, Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Chiapas, Mexico.
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Louise Clough
Director of Clinical & Administrative Support
Louise Clough is the Director of Clinical & Administrative Support for Covenant. As a member of the senior operational team, she provides support to ensure services at Covenant Health Systems organizations are consistent within established standards. She supports organizations in achieving and maintaining JCAHO and CARF accreditation and Magnet recognition and assists them to remain in compliance with state and federal regulatory programs. She provides coordination of quality improvement reporting within the continuum of Covenant facilities and assists in the development of specialized programs or units.
Prior to joining Covenant, Ms. Clough worked as a consultant, assisting clients in the development of hospital-based transitional care units, obtaining JCAHO accreditation and preparing for surveys. She has been the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Long Term Care Foundation, and a manager at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Ms. Clough is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Administrators, a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Hospice & Palliative Care Federation.
Ms. Clough is a licensed nursing home administrator as well as a registered nurse. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Boston College and Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Psychiatric Nursing from Boston University.
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Susan Dow
Director of Clinical Information Systems
Susan Dow is the Director of Clinical Information Systems for Covenant Health Systems. She is responsible for the clinical implementation, customization and ongoing system support of the Electronic Charting System at a number of the nursing facilities throughout the Covenant organization.
Ms. Dow is a Licensed Nurse with over 20 years of nursing experience, primarily in the Long Term Care setting. She has been with Covenant Health Systems since 2000, of which nine years were at Mary Immaculate Nursing and Restorative Center in Lawrence, MA. Prior to transferring to the corporate office in 2009, Ms. Dow held the position of Nurse Manager of the Alzheimer’s Unit for several years, followed by Director of Clinical Information Systems.
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Paul Ercolini
Director of Finance, Long Term Care
As Director of Finance, Long Term Care, Paul Ercolini oversees all aspects of financial operations at Covenant’s sponsored/member skilled nursing facilities.
Mr. Ercolini has 30 years of experience in healthcare finance working with organizations in several New England states. Prior to joining Covenant, Mr. Ercolini served for nine years as Director of Finance at Mary Immaculate Health Care Services in Lawrence, MA. In this position he oversaw financial operations for a 240-bed skilled nursing facility, an affordable assisted living residence, HUD independent senior housing, two adult day health programs and affiliated companies.
In his previous positions Mr. Ercolini was Director of Finance at the Boston Home (Dorchester, MA); Chief Financial Officer for the American Baptist Elder Ministries of Massachusetts and Evanswood Center for Older Adults; Director of Fiscal Affairs Carleton-Willard Village of Bedford, Massachusetts; and Manager of Budgeting at New England Deaconess Hospital for 10 years
Mr. Ercolini is a graduate of Bentley College and holds an M.B.A. in Business/Government Relations at American University in Washington, D.C.
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Mary Ann Outwater
Director of Assisted Living
Mary Ann Outwater, Director of Assisted Living for Covenant is responsible for the development and implementation of assisted living services. She provides strategic planning, management, support and program planning for services for older adults. Within her role, Ms. Outwater develops and implements marketing plans, monitors operating plans and refines operations to enhance efficiency. Her responsibilities include developing applications and programs utilizing government programs within assisted living residences. As part of the implementation of elder services for communities, Ms. Outwater reviews staffing patterns, service delivery and coordinates the employment of staff, provides staff training, implements operating plans with policies and procedures while providing day to day support for projects.
Prior to joining Covenant, Ms. Outwater was a consultant specializing in Assisted Living Operations and Adult Day Health Services. She has over twenty years of experience in all aspects of development and management, and has successful opened and operated two assisted living communities, and has developed and opened three additional communities. Ms. Outwater has served on numerous boards of directors of elder service organizations and presently is a Board member for the Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association.
Ms. Outwater is a Registered Nurse holding a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and she attended Brandeis University Heller School of Public Policy. She is a certified Housing Retirement Professional.
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JoAnn Santiago
Director of Planning
JoAnn Santiago, Director of Planning, is responsible for providing analytical and research support to Covenant elder care staff and facilities, and to consulting clients. This includes conducting market feasibility analyses and developing program plans for assisted living residences and other proposed projects, researching regulatory requirements for new programs, and projecting need for senior housing and community-based services for elders. Ms. Santiago is also responsible for conducting strategic planning sessions and providing consulting services to Covenant related organizations, and congregations of religious and other not-for-profit organizations. Among her most recent projects have been coordinating efforts to license an infirmary for women religious as a nursing facility and elder care planning for more than ten religious congregations.
Prior to joining Covenant, Ms. Santiago was most recently a consultant for Lanzikos, McDonough & Associates. In this position she conducted market feasibility analyses for eight proposed assisted living residences throughout New England, and for several hospital-based skilled nursing facilities. Ms. Santiago also assisted in filing Certificate of Need applications for several long term care facilities, and is familiar with long term care and assisted living regulations throughout New England.
Ms. Santiago earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Certificate in Health Care Management from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Simmons College. Ms. Santiago holds a Massachusetts nursing home administrator’s license and holds CASP (Certified Aging Specialist Professional) Certification.
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Mary Schaefer, RN, M.Ed, ARM, JD
Corporate Director of Risk Management
Mary Schaefer is Corporate Director of Risk Management of Covenant Health Systems. In her current role, Ms. Schaefer provides over-sight and direction over a system-wide patient safety and risk management program, commercial and captive liability insurance operations, and the captive claims management program. She also provides state and federal regulatory oversight and chairs the Covenant HIPAA committee.
Prior to joining Covenant, Ms. Schaefer was the Director of Regulatory and Institutional Services and Senior Risk Consultant with the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions. In this role she also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Practitioner Data Bank and on the Board of the Professional Liability Foundation, a state-wide legislative advocacy group.
Ms. Schaefer received a Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law and is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. She also earned a Master of Education from Boston University, a Bachelor of Science degree in the nursing program, cum laude, from Central Connecticut State University. She also earned the Associate in Risk Management designation from the Insurance Institute of America. She has lectured extensively on health law and risk management topics before physician and nursing groups and long term care associations. She has written numerous risk management articles for national publications. She is one of the contributing authors of Enterprise Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Entities published by the American Health Lawyers Association in 2009.
She holds membership in the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, Massachusetts Society for Healthcare Risk Management and past elected Board member, Catholic Risk Management Group, and the Risk Management Affinity Group of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA).
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MC Sullivan, RN MTS JD
Director of Ethics and Education
M. C. Sullivan is a nurse-bioethicist-attorney who is Director of Ethics at Covenant Health Systems in Tewksbury, MA. Prior to joining Covenant, she worked as an independent consultant providing strategic counsel in communications, ethics, and public policy for many years. She has worked extensively with not-for-profit organizations as well as commercial organization, advising them in organizational growth and development, media relations and corporate/organizational social responsibility
She was previously the Executive Vice President of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City MO, where she established and maintained strategic relationships and alliances between the Center and commercial organizations in health care and life sciences, as well as policy groups, NGOs and legislative bodies. She has extensive experience in not-for-profit executive management. Leader of the team that developed the Center’s Initiative to Promote Integrity in Biomedical Research, she also directed Pathways to Improving the Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying: a multi-year, multi-faceted project that promoted palliative care to improve the care of seriously ill and dying patients, and has worked with community consortia for managed care, hospital, and long-term care ethics committees.
Ms. Sullivan earned a degree in philosophy from Emmanuel College and a diploma in nursing from the Newton-Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing. She has a Master’s degree in Theological Studies in Ethics from Harvard University and received her Juris Doctor from the Massachusetts School of Law. She is admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Ms. Sullivan serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics. She was President of the Society in 2001, 2007 and 2008. She is a charter member of the Thomasma International Bioethics Consortium. She was a Kornfeld Fellow for 2000-1, and she served on the Scientific Commission of the Centro Internazionale de Cultura e Arte in Parma, Italy. She is on the Advisory Board of Alexandra’s House, a perinatal hospice and infant refuge.
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Joseph O’Connell
Corporate Controller
Mr. Joseph O’Connell joined Covenant in 2008 as the corporate controller. Mr. O’Connell’s responsibilities include supporting the systems financial reporting and accounting analysis. Mr. O’Connell has more than 20 years experience in accounting and finance. His experience includes being controller at American Renal Associates (ARA), the sixth largest provider of kidney dialysis in the United States, where he was responsible for accounting and financial reporting. Prior to ARA, Mr. O’Connell was the controller for two biotechnology companies: Dyax, a public biopharmaceutical company engaged in drug discovery research and development and manufacturing chromatography separation systems; and AlphaGene, a private function genomics company engaged in drug discovery research and development and manufacturing of microarrays. Joseph O’Connell began his career as a public accountant in the Boston area, where he rose to the position of audit manager. He received a B.S. degree in Accountancy from Bentley College in 1985.
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