The Board of Trustees of Coastal Healthcare Alliance, which oversees Pen Bay Medical Center, Waldo County General Hospital and their community-based health care services, has selected Mark Fourre to step into the position currently held by Chief Executive Officer Mark Biscone.

Biscone announced his retirement in January, with the expectation that his replacement would be hired by this coming December. Fourre is currently chief medical officer at LincolnHealth in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor. The combined Pen Bay and Waldo hospital system and LincolnHealth are all members of MaineHealth, based in Portland.

Fourre will assume leadership of Coastal Healthcare Alliance at the end of year. 

An emergency physician by training, Fourre has a reputation as a strong physician leader at LincolnHealth, where he is viewed as both a talented administrator and a leading clinician, according to a news release from Coastal Healthcare.

A native of Minnesota, Fourre earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and his medical doctorate from the University of Minnesota Medical School. After completing his training at the UCSF Emergency Medicine residency program in Fresno, Calif., he began his career as assistant chief of emergency medicine at that same hospital.

In 1989, Fourre moved to Portland and Maine Medical Center where he developed the Emergency Medicine Residency program and served as director and has worked in roles of increasing responsibility with MaineHealth members since that time.

“In Mark we get someone with experience delivering high quality care through a network of healthcare providers,” said Carole Brand, a member of the Coastal Healthcare Board and chair of the search committee that selected Fourre, in the release. “As we seek to maximize the opportunities of Pen Bay and Waldo working together, Mark is exactly the leader we need.”

Brand said her committee conducted a national search and that Fourre emerged from a strong pool of candidates. She said the group was especially impressed with his leadership skills. For instance, in 2013 Fourre was elected president and chairman of the board of Community Physicians of Maine, an organization with more than 1,300 physician members in the state. Brand says this shows Fourre’s ability to work well with both volunteer boards and physician colleagues, important qualities in Coastal Healthcare Alliance’s next leader.

“Not only does Mark know how to lead day-to-day, but his role with MaineHealth and other statewide organizations has given him a sense of the larger picture in health care,” said Dave Williams, chairman of the Coastal Healthcare Alliance board.

“Leading an organization like the Coastal Healthcare Alliance is an incredible opportunity,” said Fourre. “Both Waldo and Pen Bay have rich traditions of providing excellent care to their communities. Working together, they will be better positioned to meet the growing needs of the communities they serve.” he added.

“It is with a mix of sadness and great pride that we learned of Mark’s appointment,” said James Donovan, chief executive officer at LincolnHealth. “We are sad to lose such a great physician leader, but we are so very proud that his leadership here has prepared him for this new opportunity. I look forward to working alongside him as the CEO of a MaineHealth member.”

Bill Caron, president of MaineHealth, said he was especially pleased to see the Coastal Healthcare Alliance Board select a physician to lead the two hospitals.

“A health care leader has to first be an excellent executive,” said Caron. “But when you find those skills in someone who has been on the front lines of medicine, then you have something special.”

Caron also expressed gratitude for the work of Biscone, the retiring CEO at Pen Bay and Waldo.

“Mark (Biscone) has been a terrific leader as he oversaw the process of Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital merging under a single board of trustees. We wish him well as he embarks on a well-earned retirement,” said Caron.

Pen Bay Medical Center is a nonprofit, Leapfrog Straight-A Safety Score Graded Hospital and the largest community hospital in the Midcoast. It operates as a family of services that also includes Pen Bay Physicians and Associates, Quarry Hill Retirement Community and the Knox Center. Waldo County General Hospital is an iVantage Top 20 Critical Access Hospital that operates as a family of services with Waldo County Medical Partners and Penobscot Shores Retirement Community. Both Pen Bay and Waldo are members of MaineHealth, the state’s largest healthcare system. On December 1, 2015, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital began operating as one organization governed by the Coastal Healthcare Alliance Board of Directors.

About MaineHealth

MaineHealth is the state’s largest healthcare system with member and affiliate hospitals throughout southern, western and central Maine, as well as Carroll County, N.H. MaineHealth members include Franklin Memorial Hospital/Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, LincolnHealth in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, Maine Behavioral Healthcare in South Portland, the MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization in Portland, MaineHealth Care at Home in Saco, Maine Medical Center in Portland, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., NorDx in Scarborough, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital in Rockport and Belfast, Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford and Sanford, Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, Synernet in Portland, and Stephens Memorial Hospital/Western Maine Health Care in Norway. MaineHealth affiliates include Maine General Health in Augusta and Waterville, Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.