Administration Profiles at EMMC

Vice President and Senior Physician Executive of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center

James Clarke, MD, is the senior vice president and senior physician executive of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.
 
As an enthusiastic supporter of patient safety, clinical quality, and service, Dr. Clarke oversees a wide variety of physician and clinical functions for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. They include – quality and safety officer, executive director for the president of the medical staff, oversight of chiefs of service, physician leader at executive level, and collaborator with vice president of Provider Services and the senior vice president of Operations to lead the physician practices.
 
He excels at bringing people together around a common purpose and enjoys fostering resilient multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive care to patients and the community.
 
As a physician leader Dr. Clarke is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society.
 
Prior to joining the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center Dr. Clarke served as general surgeon and faculty member at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.  
 
Education:
Princeton University
Weill Cornell Medical School
New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center
 
Dr. Clarke became the senior vice president and senior physician executive of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in 2020.
 

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Vice President of Nursing and Patient Care Services for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center

Deborah (Deb) Sanford, MBA, MSN, RN is the vice president of nursing and patient care services for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.
 
As a true patient advocate as well as experienced leader, Deb works hard to integrate strategic planning, development, and standards of care to improve patient experience quality and financial outcomes. These areas of focus are all critical to successful Nursing/Patient Care Services operations. She is also a key member of the leadership team that ensures compliance with quality standards as it relates to the care provided to all patients.
 
Drawing from her years of nursing and leadership experience, Deb also defines and implements a unified nursing culture that will promote a multidisciplinary care model approach for advancing the continuity of care.
 
She is passionate about the pursuit of excellent patient care and treating patients as if they were a part of her own family, which is another top priority in her life. Deb also enjoys making a difference in her community and profession.
 
Deb contributes to her profession and community by being involved in a variety of organizations. She is a member of the Maine State Board of Nursing, a returning board member of the United Way of Eastern Maine (previous past president) and is a Rotarian and Paul Harris Society member.
 
Prior to joining Northern Light Health in 1996, Deb was a nurse leader at Strong Member Hospital, University of Rochester; an adjunct faculty member at St. John Fisher College and a Financial Analysist for Morgan Stanley & Company.
 
Education:
BSN – Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
MBA – University of Rochester, Simon School of Business, Rochester, NY
MSN – St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY
Executive Fellow; Baldridge Executive Fellow Program
 
Deb became vice president of Nursing and Patient Care Services in January 2015.

Favorite Quote:
“Have the passion, take the action and magic will happen.”
~ Bar Refaeli
 

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Vice President of Human Resources and Patient Experience East Region for Northern Light Health

Ali Worster, Esq. is the vice president of Human Resources and Patient Experience of the East Region for Northern Light Health.
 
As vice president of Human Resources and Patient Experience, East Region, Ali participates in the planning and implementation of strategies to ensure that Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center is a great place to give and receive care. She is specifically responsible for providing direction to patient experience, human resources, volunteer services, community health initiatives and community health strategic plan, education and leadership training, and employee health and employee wellness in collaboration with Northern Light Health system support.
 
She is also charged with leading and improving employee and labor relations, providing learning and career pathways for all staff, recruitment and retention, local diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, policy administration, performance management, employee recognition events, salary administration, co-leading cultural transformation, resolving employee complaints and ensuring compliance with a myriad of legal and regulatory requirements related to her areas of responsibility.

Ali views all staff, volunteers, providers and vendors as part of the care team, and is passionate about helping each one learn and develop into the highest caliber of care giver, no matter which role they play on the team. Ali champions individual and collective ownership of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and the care we provide.
 
She maintains an active membership with the Maine State Bar, is a member of the Board of Directors for the Bangor Y, Hillside School and the Challenger Center, and regularly volunteers with many local non-profits.
 
Prior to joining Northern Light Health Eastern Maine Medical Center in 2017, Ali served as the senior manager and chief negotiator for labor relations at Bath Iron Works and on the Northern Light Health legal team.
 
Education:
 
University of Tennessee, Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science and Philosophy
University of Maine School of Law, Juris Doctorate
Drexel University, LLM Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Compliance

 

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Vice President of Finance for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center

Chris Hanlon, vice president of Finance for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center joined our team on February 6, 2023. 

Prior to this position, Chris spent 15 years in healthcare with the last 11 here at Northern Light Health working in leadership roles in Accounting and Financial Planning; most recently as the associate vice president of Financial Planning and Analysis and, prior to that, the director of Finance for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. 

Chris will be responsible for the day-to-day financial operational activities of the medical center and will work with other departments to implement best practices in revenue and growth; expenses; costs and margin-control; and monthly, quarterly, and annual financial goal management throughout the organization. He will provide timely updates to Northern Light Health senior financial management on issues and status of major projects and will prepare, recommend, develop, and implement the annual operation and capital budgets to EMMC and Northern Light Health leadership.

Chris will work closely with leaders and teams in Financial Analysis, Materials Management, Patient Financial Services, Patient Access, Medical Group, Physician Practice Revenue Cycle, and Health Information Management Services.

With a bachelor’s degree from University of Maine in Orono, Business Administration – Accounting, he’s a proud Black Bear Alum who lives each day as a team player displaying integrity, honestly, transparency, treating others with respect and approaching tasks and problems with a positive attitude -- exactly what we need! 

Favorite quote
“Don’t be afraid of failure, this is the only way to succeed”.  Lebron James
 

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