New Sweden native comes home for hospital CFO post

5 years ago

CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center announced Friday, Nov. 16, that Chelsea Lee Reynolds Desrosiers, CPA, MBA, a native of New Sweden, has accepted the position of chief financial officer.

The hospital also announced the appointment of Leslie Anderson, PT, MSB, as chief operating officer, and Dr. Regen Gallagher, chief medical officer, as the hospital’s second-in-command administrator.

Desrosiers, a 2005 graduate of Caribou High School, is a certified public accountant and currently serves as audit senior manager with Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm, at the company’s Portland and Boston offices.

Desrosiers earned her bachelor of science degree in accounting at Thomas College in Waterville in 2009 and a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting at Thomas. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Kris Doody, RN, Cary CEO, said that as an organization the hospital is always thrilled to bring back professionals who grew up in The County.

“We are just delighted,” said Doody, “that Chelsea has accepted the position as chief financial officer here at Cary.  She is extremely talented, has some great experience in the health care sector and she is coming home to be close to her family and to raise a family of her own.  All of us involved with the interview process for the new CFO were very impressed with her credentials, her experience, personality and her desire to come home to Caribou.”

Desrosiers will move to Caribou later this year with her husband and 5-month-old daughter, and will begin her work at the hospital in January.

“It’s always been important to me to never lose sight of where I came from and the values I learned growing up,” she said. “I am looking forward to sharing my experiences from the last 10 years with rural and urban healthcare organizations throughout New England.”

Leslie Anderson replaces Shawn Anderson, who successfully served as COO for some 15 years. She is also a graduate of Caribou High School and has served in multiple leadership positions at Cary over the past 20 years.  She most recently was the director of ancillary services at the hospital.

She is a graduate of the physical therapy program at the University of New England and earned a master’s in business at Husson University.  Anderson also served as executive director of the Maine Rural Health Innovations Network. She is a licensed physical therapist and adjunct faculty for the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Physical Therapy Assistant program.

Doody said Anderson brings experience from a clinical perspective and has demonstrated strong people management skills.

“Leslie has been one of our strongest managers here at Cary for a number of years,” said Doody. “From  her time as the manager for rehabilitation services, where her department achieved some of the highest customer service ratings, to her expanded role as director of ancillary services she has always kept her focus on her staff and keeping the patient at the center of everything we do.”

In her expanded role, Gallagher will now serve just below Doody on the management team and will take on a number of new responsibilities.  Gallagher has served as chief medical officer since 2012 in a role that includes physician adviser and patient safety officer. She has responsibility for multiple departments, including Medical Staff Services, Health Information Services and the Jefferson Cary Cancer Center.

She earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree at the University of New England and completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Midwestern University in Olympia Fields, Illinois. She holds a master’s in business administration with a concentration in medical management from the University of Massachusetts, Isenberg School of Management.

Gallagher, who is married to Dr. Shawn Laferriere, chief of radiology at Cary, is working towards a law degree at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

“It has been a challenge to rebuild our team after we had no changes for almost 15 years,” said Doody, who also serves as CEO for Pines Health Services. “Rounding out these appointments with the promotion of Regen Gallagher, who has done an outstanding job as chief medical officer over the past six years, will put in place a very accomplished, experienced and passionate leadership team.”

Doody said, “Dr. Gallagher has provided great leadership in the establishment of the Jefferson Cary Cancer Center and has built strong, trusted relationships with members of our medical staff, Board of Directors and hospital staff, something critical to the ongoing success of our organization.”

The senior management team at Cary has combined experience of nearly 200 years.  In 2019 the hospital will mark its 95th anniversary.