Memorial Hospital President Resigns

The president of Memorial Hospital in North Conway has submitted his resignation effective July 7.

Arthur R. Mathisen notified the Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees of his decision to resign at Wednesday’s board meeting. Michelle O’Donnell, chair of the Memorial Board, said the resignation was accepted “with much regret.”

“This is a bittersweet moment for us,” O’Donnell said following the board’s Wednesday meeting. “We are sad to see Art go because of all he has done for this hospital and how it serves this community. But we are happy that Art is moving on to a new challenge and we have helped prepare him to make a difference in another community.”

Mathisen began his tenure at Memorial in June 2019. The hospital’s local response to the global pandemic has dominated the majority of his time at Memorial. In early 2020 Memorial suspended most non-emergency services, re-opening a few weeks later with new patient and visitor instructions and COVID-19 screenings as well as additional safety precautions in most patient care areas.

“Critical access hospitals [25 beds or less] play an important health care role, especially in smaller communities,” Mathisen says. “This pandemic was a defining moment in the careers of most people on the staff, and we still worked on improving patient care so our post-pandemic operations would be even better than before.

During his time at Memorial, Mathisen also oversaw the improvement of an electronic medical records system and worked on further integrating Memorial into the MaineHealth system.

“This has been a great team to work with. I will miss them but know they will continue their excellence,” said Mathisen.