Gabarro appointed CEO of Down East Community Hospital

Staff Report

    MACHIAS — Down East Community Hospital in Machias has hired former Mayo Regional Hospital CEO Ralph Gabarro of Brunswick as interim chief executive officer.
    The appointment was announced last week by the DECH Board of Directors.
    Gabarro succeeds Douglas Jones, who resigned on May 28.

    “I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the administration of Down East Community as its interim CEO and am impressed with the board, senior leaders and staff for their strong commitment to the people of Washington County and to providing the quality of health care they deserve,” Gabarro said in prepared statement.
    DECH is a 25-bed, critical-access facility with an active medical staff of 30 physicians plus another 12 “on courtesy staff,” according to the hospital’s website.
     “The board is pleased that someone with Mr. Gabarro’s experience with rural Maine and Critical Access Hospitals was willing to come out of retirement to be at the helm at Down East Community while the board completes its CEO search,” DECH Board Chairman David Whitney said in the hospital’s statement.
    Jones was named interim CEO after the state placed DECH into receivership in 2009 and under the emergency control of Eastern Maine Health System, according to the Bangor Daily News. Jones later agreed to stay on as CEO once the hospital’s receivership with EMHS ended.
    Gabarro was CEO of Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft for 15 years and retired in December 2012.
    He then formed The Gabarro Group, where he served as a health care consultant, advising medical facilities on governance, strategic planning, medical staff development and interim leadership
    Before taking over the Mayo position in 1997, Gabarro was president of Wentworth Douglass in Dover, N.H. for seven years, and vice-president of operations at Maine Medical Center in Portland from 1986-89.