On Monday, July 28, 2014, Joseph Roach will become the new president of Holy Family Hospital and Merrimack Valley Hospital. He will be assuming the leadership of the two campuses just a few days before the merger of the two hospitals is complete. As of August 1st, Merrimack Valley Hospital will be called Holy Family Hospital at Merrimack Valley. The two campuses, approximately 10 miles apart, will now operate under the Holy Family Hospital license. The merger has been reviewed and approved by the Department of Public Health.

“After careful consideration, we determined that it is in the best interest of our patients, our employees and the surrounding communities to bring Merrimack Valley Hospital and Holy Family Hospital closer together,” explained Mark Girard, MD, President of Steward Hospitals.

All acute-care services available at Holy Family and Merrimack Valley will continue to be offered at their current locations. For several years, the two hospitals have shared an integrated leadership team so this is an extension of a successful partnership between the two campuses. From a patient and employee standpoint, this merger will not lead to significant day-to-day changes. The hospitals will continue to share a leadership team and some administrative functions. Next week, there will be new signs at the Haverhill campus to reflect the new name of the hospital, Holy Family Hospital at Merrimack Valley.

Joe Roach joins Steward with more than twenty years experience working in hospitals. Most recently, he was the CEO of Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital (Florence, AL), a hospital system with two campuses and 506 beds. He also previously served as CEO of Memorial Health System / Province Healthcare / Lifepoint (Martinsville, VA) and Millinocket Regional Hospital (Millinocket, ME).

Mr. Roach will be replacing Lester Schindel, who announced his departure earlier this month after completing the merger process and improving the quality of care at both campuses.

About Steward Health Care
Steward Health Care is the largest fully integrated community care network in New England with 11 hospital campuses, approximately 3,000 physicians, two dozen affiliated urgent care centers, home care, hospice and palliative care. Steward serves more than one million patients annually in more than 150 communities. Headquartered in Boston, Steward is the third largest employer in MA with approximately 17,000 employees. More information is available at www.steward.org.