Cheshire Medical Center in Keene (File photo by Hannah Schroeder/Sentinel Staff)
Cheshire Medical Center is looking for a new chief financial officer, following the retirement of that position's predecessor.
Dan Gross, the Dartmouth Health affiliate's former chief financial officer, retired in May after holding the position for three years, according to spokesman Matthew Barone. The Keene hospital has been searching for his replacement for several months, he said.
Meanwhile, AnnMarie Coppo has stepped in as the department's interim leader. Previously, Coppo was the hospital's director of financial planning and analysis, according to Barone.
Like many rural hospitals nationwide, Cheshire Medical has faced financial challenges in recent years due to a variety of factors, such as the added cost of the travel nurses amid ongoing workforce shortages.
Dartmouth Health removed the hospital from its obligated group in July 2023 because of its finances, according to a notice published online on the change.
An obligated group is an arrangement in which organizations combine multiple business lines or assets to create a single financial entity, Barone said last year. This can be a benefit, he said at the time, in situations such as borrowing.
Audra Burns, spokeswoman for Dartmouth Health, said Monday that while the hospital system does not have a definitive timeline, it expects Cheshire Medical will be added back in the obligated group in the next one to two years.
"As a reminder, their removal was purely a temporary administrative, technical action related to the Obligated Group and has no impact on Cheshire's operations nor the System's financial or operational support of Cheshire," she said in an email.
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Olivia Casey can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or ocasey@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @OCaseyKS.
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