The Department of Social and Health Services has hired a new chief executive officer at Eastern State Hospital.
Eric Carpenter, who brings with him years of health care executive leadership in both behavioral and community health, will officially start with the department’s Behavioral Health Administration on June 1.
Most recently, he was the senior leadership executive of planning and operations for various health care systems and nonprofits across the United States.
Previously, Carpenter was the chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, where he provided direct oversight of management and strategic leadership for clinical operations, budgets, programming, human resources, contracted services and infrastructure.
“Eric’s many years of health care executive leadership experience and his extensive knowledge of behavioral and community health make him an ideal fit to lead our staff at Eastern State Hospital as we continue to transform behavioral health in our state,” DSHS Secretary Jilma Meneses said. “It takes very special people to work with our patients. We believe Eric has the knowledge and compassion to lead our staff and give them the tools and the resources they need to better serve our patients.”
“We’re looking forward to Eric leading our ESH team and leveraging his extensive knowledge of state and federal health care policies and regulations, third-party payers and Joint Commission accreditation to benefit both the hospital and our entire administration,” said Kevin Bovenkamp, Assistant Secretary for BHA.
Carpenter completed a Bachelor’s of Public and Health Services Administration and a Master’s of Public Health Administration, Health Services and Nonprofit Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. He also completed an Executive Management and Leadership Program from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Tony Bowie served as Interim Chief Executive Officer during the search for a permanent CEO at Eastern State Hospital.