Dr. Mark A. Keroack, MPH, a native of Springfield, has officially become president and chief executive officer of Baystate Health, succeeding Mark R. Tolosky, JD, FACHE, who has served in that role since 2004.
It has been ten years since the last transition in the Office of the President & CEO when Tolosky replaced the retiring Michael J. Daly.
In 2011, Dr. Keroack became president of Baystate Medical Practices, then in March 2013 was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer for Baystate Health.
"I appreciate the Board's confidence in me and consider it an honor to follow Mark Tolosky after such a distinguished tenure. For the last nine months, I have been working closely with Mark, members of the President's Cabinet and the Board to make sure I am thoroughly oriented and prepared for the duties I am assuming today," Dr. Keroack said.
A family of service
"The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Keroack based on the merit of his extensive knowledge and experience in healthcare and his proven leadership abilities and strengths. His family ties to this region and to the history of the organization make this appointment even more profound," said Victor Woolridge, chair of the Baystate Health Board of Trustees.
Keroack’s father, Dr. Alvin Keroack, served the Sixteen Acres community of Springfield for many years as a general practitioner and occasionally brought his son Mark to what was then Springfield Hospital (now Baystate Medical Center) for rounds. Keroack’s mother, Mary Phaneuf Keroack, was a nurse and a graduate of the Springfield Hospital School of Nursing, which became the Baystate School of Nursing.
Getting his start in healthcare
Prior to joining Baystate Health, Dr. Keroack served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts for 12 years. During that time, he was a practitioner focusing on HIV and AIDS care and won five annual teaching awards. He subsequently provided executive leadership at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester as vice president for Medical Management and later as the first executive director of the 700-physician UMass Memorial Medical Group. He then joined University Health System Consortium (UHC) in Chicago where he served as senior vice president and chief medical officer. At UHC, a member-owned alliance of 112 academic medical centers, he oversaw programs for clinical and operational performance improvement, faculty group practice management, patient safety and accreditation.
Dr. Keroack graduated from Amherst College, Harvard Medical School, and received his MPH from Boston University. He trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.