UMass Memorial names new presidents

Courtesy Lisa Colombo, executive vice chancellor of Commonwealth Medicine

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By Sam Bonacci

UMass Memorial Health Care has announced that Lisa Colombo will be the president of UMass Memorial – Clinton Hospital and Nicole Gagne will become president of UMass Memorial – Community Healthlink. Both had been serving in interim president roles with the institutions.

Colombo, who has served as interim president since last November, has a history with UMass Memorial, having formerly served as corporate vice president for clinical operations and chief nursing officer at UMass Memorial - HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster from 2009 to 2013. Before taking on the role as interim president, she was senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center.

“We have many new initiatives in the pipeline and are positioned to grow and thrive in the coming years,” Colombo said in a statement.

Colombo holds a doctorate in nursing and has a master’s degree in health care administration. She is also an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the academic partner of UMass Memorial Health Care.

Gagne began serving as the interim president of Community Healthlink in January after longtime president and CEO Deborah Ekstrom retired at the end of 2015. A member of the UMass Memorial Health Care system, Community Healthlink helps adults, children and families to recover from the effects of mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness.

Immediately before stepping into this role, Gagne served as executive vice president and prior to that, as a vice president responsible for Community Healthlink’s homeless, addiction and primary care services. Before joining Community Healthlink, Nicole was the executive director of North Central Human Services in Gardner and has held various other executive management positions in agencies around the country. Nicole earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Assumption College and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMass Lowell.