Hope Valley, RI (August 13, 2024) – Wood River Health recently elected Greg Kenney and Michael McCarten, DO, MPH to its Board of Directors and appointed Kalpesh Shah as Chair. Board members serve as advisors who govern the health center towards a sustainable future by monitoring and evaluating its performance, providing sound policies, safeguarding its assets and advancing its mission.
Wood River Health’s Board is comprised of local professionals representing banking, business compliance, finance, health care, and nonprofit industries. Each member has been selected due to their expertise in their fields and their commitment to improving the quality of life of individuals who live and work in Wood River Health’s community.
Greg Kenney has been reappointed to Wood River Health's Board, having previously served nine years from 2015 to 2021. A longtime resident of Washington County, Greg Kenney was reappointed to Wood River Health's Board of Directors in July 2024. He has also served on the Hopkinton Finance Board, Chariho School Committee, Chariho Building Committee and Community 2000. He is Principal and President at Perreault Family Real Estate Partnership in Hope Valley, RI.
Michael McCarten, DO, MPH is a native of Cranston, Rhode Island, and a 1983 graduate of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, beginning a 30-year career that led to travel to 24 countries on five continents. The highlights of Dr. McCarten’s career include serving as Senior Medical Officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) at the time of the 9/11 attacks. His ship deployed to the North Arabian Sea one week later and remained in combat operations for the next five months.
Dr. McCarten also served as the Commanding Officer of the NATO trauma hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, overseeing 500 US Navy, Army, Air Force and NATO medical personnel for a one-year period of intense combat operations. There the medical personnel recorded an historic 97 percent survival rate for combat casualties. Dr. McCarten also served as Fleet Surgeon, United States 7th Fleet, overseeing the healthcare provided to 20,000 sailors and marines aboard ships deployed to the waters from Hawaii to Africa, while simultaneously planning and participating in humanitarian and disaster relief missions throughout the South Pacific and South Asia. Following retirement from the Navy in 2013, Dr. McCarten served as a family physician, initially at Elliot Health System, Manchester, NH and then Wood River Health, retiring in December 2023.
Kalpesh Shah joined Wood River Health’s Board in May 2022 and was recently appointed Board Chair. Raised in India, Shah has always had a philanthropic spirit. Throughout his life, he has connected vulnerable individuals with food, shelter and education. After migrating to the US, he launched Connecticut Fibers, Inc., exporting recycling material to paper mills in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Residents of Wood River Junction, Kalpesh and his wife Jeanette are dedicated to ensuring their community has access to quality health care. Their support helped Wood River Health launch telehealth services during the pandemic.
Shah graduated with distinction from N.M. College, Mumbai with B.com degree and graduated with a master’s degree in cost accounting. He received the Partners in Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2021 for his contributions to Wood River Health. He also serves on the Advisory Board at Monsignor Clarke School in Wakefield, RI and chairs its Facilities Committee.
The Board meets monthly, and Members participate on committees that oversee the strategic initiatives of Wood River Health. These include the Executive Committee, Credentialing and Privileging, Finance, Governance, Quality Improvement, Strategic Planning, Building Committee and Gala/Fundraising.
As a Federally Qualified Health Center, the majority (at least 51%) of Board Members must be patients served by the health center. They must, as a group, represent the individuals who are served by the health center in terms of demographic factors, such as race, ethnicity, and gender.
