Stephen J. Grubbs has served as President/CEO of Covenant Health since April 2019. Steve is a veteran of the healthcare industry with over 33 years of progressive healthcare administrative experience. 

Prior to joining Covenant Health Steve served as the President and CEO of Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System in Panama City, Florida, a full-service acute care hospital comprised of three campuses.  Steve also has served as CEO for Paris Regional Medical Center in Paris (TX), a 368 licensed bed full-service hospital with two campus locations, as well as CEO of Regional Hospital of Jackson (TN), part of the Community Health Systems, Inc., network.  While in Tennessee, Steve was recognized as one of the top 25 hospital leaders within the state.

Steve earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Kentucky and his MBA from Bethel University.  He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has served on a variety of community and charitable Boards throughout his career.

Darlene Rodowicz was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Health Systems in January of 2022, after having served as Executive Vice President since 2020. She had previously been the Chief Financial Officer from 2005 to 2020. She had served as Associate Vice President of Finance for Berkshire Health Systems from 1995 to 2005. 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.

Mr. Joseph (Jody) White has served as President and CEO of Circle Health and Lowell General Hospital since April 2017. In this role, he is responsible for the overall vision and leadership of the health system and hospital’s management. As CEO, White leads the effort to fully realize Circle Health’s vision to be one of the best integrated healthcare systems in America. Born of collaboration among community physicians, Lowell General Hospital, Lowell Community Health Center and Circle Home, Circle Health represents a unique community-based approach to care and a force for positive change in how individuals, families and communities experience and improve their health. The collaboration supports ongoing investment in new technologies, advanced clinical expertise, the most innovative treatment approaches and medical best practices, individual and community health management, augmented by partnerships with leading academic medical centers and specialty clinics.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, White served as President of Lowell General Hospital since 2013. He had previously served for 10 years as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the hospital and was responsible for overseeing its daily operations. Since White joined the leadership team, Lowell General Hospital has earned both regional and national recognition for its quality of care and work environment, including Magnet designation for the third time by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2020 – an honor celebrating excellence in patient care held by only 4% of hospitals nationally. He played a strategic leadership role in Lowell General Hospital’s merger with Saints Medical Center in 2012, as well as the hospital’s Legacy Project, a major expansion of its main campus to construct the six-story Dahod Building in 2012.

White came to Lowell General from Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. After serving as Administrative Director of Emergency Services and Assistant Vice President, Mr. White was named Vice President of Administration in 1994 and was responsible for outpatient services, ambulatory care, and diagnostic services. His accomplishments during his tenure at Middlesex Hospital included the planning, design and operation of a new Cancer Center and a new diagnostic cardiac catheterization center.

White holds a Master’s in Business Administration / Executive Program from the University of New Haven and a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health from the University of Bridgeport. He is also a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

An active member of several healthcare industry organizations, White serves as as a board member of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals. He also served as the immediate past Chair of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association and as a member of Attorney General Maura Healey’s advisory task force on hospital and HMO community benefit guidelines. Locally, White is a former board chairman of the Greater Lowell YMCA and serves on the board of Home Health Foundation, a community-based home health care and hospice agency.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, Dr. Kruger completed his internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He completed his residency training at the Dartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H.

He is board certified in general surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has practiced general surgery at Tobey Hospital and Southcoast Health for 32 years. Dr. Kruger’s areas of interest include, general, bariatric, and minimally invasive surgery, including anti‐reflux surgery and other procedures.

He was the medical director of the Southcoast center for weight loss from 2004 until 2021. He has been the Physician in Chief of surgical services from 2018‐ present, Chief physician executive from 2021 to present and appointed President and CEO of Southcoast Health in May 2022.