Four New Trustees Elected To Berkshire Health Systems Board
PITTSFIELD - Berkshire Health Systems announces the appointment of four respected members of the civic and business communities to the BHS Board of Trustees. The new trustees, formally appointed at the Berkshire Health Systems annual meeting are Gina Cinelli Birchall, JD, CLU, Vice President of Underwriting at Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Dennis J. Hogan, Manager of Marketing and Sales for Berkshire Gas Company, A. King Francis, Senior Vice President of Wachovia Securities and Paul E. Raverta, PhD., President of Berkshire Community College.Gina Birchall graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1992 and continued her education at Western New England College School of Law, obtaining her juris doctor in 1995. Birchall practiced law for three years in Springfield before joining Berkshire Life as an attorney in 1998. She held various positions in the Law, Claims and Strategic Planning departments at Berkshire Life before her promotion to her current position in January of 2007. Birchall earned the Chartered Life Underwriter designation and is currently pursuing her Life Insurance and Market Research Association Leadership Institute Fellow designation.
Dennis Hogan is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing programs for natural gas delivery products and services to residential and industrial clients for Berkshire Gas. He also manages the Commercial/Industrial and Residential sales force. An Emergency Medical Technician Intermediate, Hogan has a long association with healthcare. He previously served as Executive Director of the Behavioral Health Consortium of New York in Albany, a provider-owned managed care organization with over 350 mental health practitioners and was Vice President of Marketing for the Ivey Companies, former owner and operator of several long-term care facilities in the Berkshires. Hogan has served as a Corporator for Berkshire Health Systems and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Medieval History from Fordham University.
King Francis previously served as a financial consultant with First Albany Corporation and was manager of the Pittsfield office for nearly 20 years. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Quinnipiac College. A native of Pittsfield who family goes back eight generations in the city, Francis is very active in community affairs. He has served as past president of the Pittsfield YMCA, president of the Pittsfield Cemetery, past president of the Exchange Club of Pittsfield, on the boards of the Salvation Army, South Mountain Association, Berkshire Place and the Colonial Theatre, and as a member of the United Way Allocation Committee.
Dr. Paul Raverta has led BCC since September of 2005. Raverta holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, and served for over 30 years at Holyoke Community College prior to his appointment at BCC. During his tenure at Holyoke, he served as a faculty member in Anatomy and Physiology as well as a senior-level administrator in a variety of positions including; Interim President, Vice President for Student Development, Vice President for Business and Community Affairs, and Executive Director of the Kittredge Business Center. Under his leadership at Berkshire Community College donations to the BCC Foundation have doubled, the largest grant in the history of the institution has been received and a downtown center in partnership with MCLA has been established. In addition, a manufacturing degree program in partnership with Taconic and McCann Technical high schools and the Berkshire Applied Technology Council was initiated, and the Berkshire Institute for Lifetime Learning became part of the institution as Oscher Lifetime Learning Institute at BCC. Raverta has also overseen an expanded partnership with Berkshire Health Systems, increasing the number of registered nurses graduating from BCC.
Departing the BHS Board of Trustees is Frederick C. Harwood, who was elected to the Board in 2004.
