BHS Senior Leadership

David E. Phelps was born and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and attended local schools in the City. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary's College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
 
Phelps was appointed President of Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) and Berkshire Health Care Systems (BHCS) in 1993. Berkshire Health Systems is the primary provider of healthcare services in Berkshire County. Its affiliates include Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield and Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. A long-term care associate of Berkshire Health Systems, Berkshire Health Care Systems operates nursing and rehabilitative care facilities throughout the Berkshires, including Mt. Greylock Extended Care, Kimball Farms, Hillcrest Commons, Fairview Commons, North Adams Commons and Williamstown Commons. In addition, BHCS owns and operates nursing facilities across Massachusetts, and in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Phelps has served on the Board of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, Massachusetts Hospital Association, and as a member of the American Hospital Association's Regional Policy Board. He is a former Chairman of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, past President of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, and has served on the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority (HEFA), Massachusetts Business Roundtable Healthcare Task Force and the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Healthcare. 

         
Darlene Rodowicz was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Berkshire Health Systems in 2005, after serving as Associate Vice President of Finance for Berkshire Health Systems since 1995. She joined Berkshire Health Systems in 1984 as a staff accountant and has since served in a variety of positions, including Billing Supervisor of Berkshire Faculty Services and BHS Comptroller before being named to her current role.

A graduate of Western New England College with a Master's degree in Business Administration, Rodowicz also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is a member and Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a national organization comprised of healthcare financial leaders.

Appointed Senior Vice President in 2001, Ruth Blodgett oversees the extensive network of physician practices operating under Berkshire Health Systems. She previously served as Senior Vice President of BHS Planning and Development. She was also named Senior Vice President of Physician Services in late 2015.
 

Blodgett previously served as Berkshire Medical Center's Chief Operating Officer from 1995-2001, responsible for the operations of the hospital and affiliates including home care and physician companies. Prior to becoming Chief Operating Officer, Blodgett was Vice President for Ambulatory Care and other hospital services from 1987-1995. She began her career in healthcare planning and market analysis.

Blodgett earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Health Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago. She has a Bachelor's degree from Smith College.

Eugene Dellea, President Fairview Hospital & BMC Hillcrest Campus   

Eugene Dellea joined the staff of Hillcrest Hospital in 1962 as Chief Medical Technologist and was appointed Assistant Administrator of Hillcrest in 1980. One year later, Dellea was named President and Chief Operating Officer of the hospital. He has continued to serve in that capacity throughout the 1996 merger with Berkshire Health Systems and Berkshire Medical Center. In 1999, in addition to his role as President of the Hillcrest Campus of BMC, Dellea was named President of Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.

Dellea is active in numerous community and civic organizations. He is past Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Berkshire Community College and the current President of the Berkshire Community College Foundation. He is also past President of the Pittsfield Chapter of UNICO and a current member of the Mayor's Task Force for Economic Development. Dellea serves on the Boards of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the Berkshires, the Central Berkshire County Development Corporation and the Berkshire United Way. He is Vice President of the Community Health Association of Richmond and West Stockbridge, a director of Lenox Savings Bank, member of the bank's executive committee and a corporator and director of the Legacy Financial Group.

Long active in local, state and national politics, Dellea served as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen in West Stockbridge, and is currently the town's Moderator. In addition, he has collaborated with state and national lawmakers in the shaping of key healthcare legislation. He has worked closely with United States Senator Edward Kennedy and is a close friend of the Kennedy family.

Dellea earned his Medical Laboratory Technician diploma from the Carnegie Institute, an Associate's Degree in Medical Technology from Carnegie College and a Master's Degree in Education and Management from Cambridge College.

Cynthia Kane, RN, BSN, MPA, Chief Operating Officer, Berkshire Medical Center

Cynthia Kane was appointed BMC Chief Operating Officer in April of 2018. Kane most recently served as Administrative Director of Hematology and Oncology Division and Cancer Services for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Her previous experience includes positions as Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Brighton, Chief Operating Officer of Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Physician Organization in Boston, and Director of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer for Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Springfield, among others.

 

Laurie Lamarre has been the Senior Vice President of the Revenue Cycle at Berkshire Health Systems since 2006. She joined BHS in 1990 as a payroll specialist and quickly advanced her career in the finance division, serving in a variety of positions prior to her current role. She currently is enrolled at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine in the Master of Health Administration Program and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Lamarre is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and Meditech’s Revenue Cycle Committee.

She is active in community service and serves as a board member for the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition and Ecu-Health Care, both in Northern Berkshire.

Joseph LaRoche was appointed Vice President of Facilities Planning and Construction Management for Berkshire Health Systems in 2017. He previously served as Director of Facilities and General services for two hospitals in Connecticut and returned to the Berkshires in 2006, serving as Director of Facilities Management and Construction for Berkshire Medical Center.

LaRoche is a native of Adams, Massachusetts and attended local schools. He completed accredited college courses in project management, civil and chemical engineering while working toward completion of a bachelor's degree in general engineering. Active in the community, he serves as the Chair of the City of Pittsfield's Green Commission, and consults and advises regularly with engineering firms, contractors and utility companies to help create effective solutions to rising energy costs.

Anthony Rinaldi has served as a member of BHS senior management in the department of fiscal administration since 1996. Prior to joining BHS, Rinaldi was employed by Hillcrest Hospital for 20 years, holding the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1984-1996. He is a graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He is an advanced member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association.

Rinaldi was elected to the Board of Directors of the Greylock Federal Credit Union in 1994 and presently is serving a three year term as Chairman of the Board.

John Rogers joined Berkshire Health Systems as Vice President and General Counsel in April 2000, after serving many years as its outside general counsel. A 1974 graduate of Yale College, he received his law degree from Georgetown University in 1977. After a judicial clerkship in Washington, D.C., Rogers came to Berkshire County to practice law in the Pittsfield-based firm that is now Cain Hibbard Myers & Cook, P.C. He became a partner in that firm in 1985 and served for several years as a managing partner.

With initial experience representing healthcare providers in liability litigation, Rogers developed the firm's healthcare practice, representing BHS and other area healthcare providers on business, transactional, regulatory and litigation matters since 1985. After 22 years in private practice, Rogers joined BHS to oversee resolution of legal issues and to provide general strategic, management and operational advice to BHS and to Berkshire Healthcare Systems, the long term care facilities of which he is also vice president and general counsel. Rogers also oversees the insurance and risk management programs of both organizations.

William Young came to BHS in 2009 from Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, NY, where he had served as Chief Information Officer. During his tenure at Ellis, Young successfully managed the implementation of a multi-million dollar information systems investment plan and was involved as a senior manager in the merger of three hospitals on disparate systems into one organization and one information system.

At BHS, he has developed an Information Technology strategy that includes a Health Information Exchange throughout the Berkshires, a new state-of-the-art physician practice system for both hospital-employed and community based physicians and has successfully led the Information Technology team to achieve Healthcare’s “Most-Wired” status for BHS. Under Young's direction, BHS continues to be a leader in utilizing Electronic Health Information and is poised to be a “Meaningful” User and achieve the ARRA Stimulus Funding for both BHS’ Hospitals and physician practices.

Young is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a degree in Technical Management and concentration in Information Systems, Economics and Business Law. He has been active in numerous professional and civic organizations, including serving as chair of the Enterprise Information Systems Steering Committee and the Annual Conference Education Committee for the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), co-chair of Health Information Exchange of NY (HIXNY) - NY Capital District RHIO (Regional Health Information Organization), member of the Board of Trustees of Schenectady Visiting Nurse Services, and Scoutmaster for Troop-65 in Glenville, NY.