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Patrick A. Charmel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Griffin Hospital and Griffin Health Services Corporation, Honored as John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellow

On March 23, Patrick A. Charmel, M.P.H. ’83, President and Chief Executive Officer of Griffin Hospital and of Griffin Health Services Corporation, was honored by the Health Management Program as the John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellow of 2006.

Charmel began his career with Griffin Hospital as in intern in 1979 while attending Quinnipiac College. He became President in 1998 after serving in a variety of administrative positions including Vice President of Hospital Operations. As President of Griffin Hospital, Charmel also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Planetree Inc., a subsidiary, not-for-profit organization which supports over 100 premier hospitals committed to patient empowerment and the delivery of patient centered care throughout the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Under his leadership, Griffin Hospital has become an industry leader in providing personalized health care and it has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and honors. It has appeared in the Fortune Magazine list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America the past seven years. In the 2006 Fortune Magazine list, it was ranked number 4, the highest ranking ever achieved by a hospital. Griffin Hospital was also named a recipient of Total Benchmark Solution’s Top 100 Quality Award and Healthgrades Clinical Excellence Award in 2006 and one of Solucient 100 Top Performance Improvement Leader Hospitals in 2004. Charmel has also co-authored the book, Putting Patients First, which received the 2004 American College of Healthcare Executive’s Health Care book of the year award. The award dinner, held on March 23, featured a speech by Charmel describing his experiences and career at Griffin. Charmel spent the following day meeting with HMP students one-on-one and in groups.

The John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellow program honors Professor John D. Thompson and his distinguished contribution as an educator and researcher in health administration, including his pioneering work in developing the Medicare payment system. The fellowship program brings a leader in health administration to EPH each year to share their career experiences with students and discuss emerging challenges in health administration. Recent John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellows include Joseph A. Zaccagnino, former President and CEO of Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale-New Haven Health System (2005), Nancy Johnson, Congresswoman (2004), Gail Wilenksy, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at Project HOPE (2003), and Elaine Ullian, M.P.H., President and CEO of Boston City Hospital (2002).