SVMC Hires Robert Laba as Next CFO

BENNINGTON, VT—November 9, 2023—Following a national search, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member of Dartmouth Health, announces that Robert Laba will be its next chief financial officer. Laba joins SVMC from Adirondack Health in Saranac Lake, NY, where he served as chief financial officer and vice president of finance of the 95-bed, community hospital since 2018.

Laba holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in health care administration from Columbia Southern University and a Bachelor of Science from Plattsburgh State University.  

Laba’s career at Adirondack Health began in 2012 when he joined the organization’s finance department. In 2017, he served as the assistant vice president of Finance. He progressed into chief financial officer/vice president of finance role where he achieved year‐over-year financial improvement; developed a five-year capital plan for facilities, information technology, and equipment; and worked on many strategic service line projects.  Most recently, he led a financial recovery plan yielding a projected $10,000,000 turnaround from 2022 to 2023.  During his tenure at Adirondack Health, he was key to the $45,000,000 modernization & renovation construction projects, which built a new Health & Medical Fitness Center in Lake Placid and a new, state of the art perioperative suite in the main hospital facility in Saranac Lake. 

SVMC president and CEO Tom Dee said, “I am pleased to have such an outstanding fiscal expert with such a tremendous track record of steering long-term diversified strategic growth join our leadership team. I’m confident he will put that experience to work and help us successfully navigate the challenging and ever-changing financial landscape that exists in healthcare today.”

Speaking of his decision to join SVMC, Laba noted, “I look forward to continuing to build upon the strong financial foundation that already exists here at SVMC. The recently strengthened relationship with Dartmouth Health speaks to the organization’s commitment to make decisions that not only make fiscal sense, but provide tremendous benefit to the communities served. It’s an honor to join the SVMC leadership team.”

Laba and his wife of 21 years has a son, who is a freshman at the University of Vermont studying civil engineering. 

Laba’s tenure at SVMC began on October 2, 2023.

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About SVMC:
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member hospital of Dartmouth Health, is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVMC includes Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the SVHC Foundation, as well as 25 primary and specialty care practices.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. In addition, SVMC is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. The health system is fortunate to have the support of platinum-level corporate sponsor Mack, a leading supplier of contract manufacturing services and injection molded plastic parts based in Arlington, VT.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

SVMC Contact: Kathryn.Czaplinski@svhealthcare.org

About Dartmouth Health: Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 51 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT; and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.

DH Contact: news@dartmouth-health.org