Carol Vallone has succeeded David S. Barlow as chair of the McLean Hospital Board of Trustees, the hospital announced.
Vallone, who has been a member of the McLean board for 11 years, has had a stellar 19-year career launching, scaling, and selling market-leading online learning companies serving the higher education market. In a true example of her dedication to McLean, she has shifted her focus and is spending more time serving the hospital and the health care industry.
“With a tremendous drive for success, a big vision for the future, and an unyielding commitment to McLean and its mission, we are extremely fortunate to have Carol Vallone serving as our new chair,” says Scott L. Rauch, MD, president and psychiatrist in chief for McLean.
Having joined the board more than a decade ago, Vallone has been deeply involved with hospital operations and planning. She has served as the chair of McLean’s Ventures Committee, chair of the Marketing Task Force, and most recently has taken on the role of chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.
“Since serving on the board, I have watched the hospital build a solid financial foundation under chair Kate Feldstein, PhD, and experience significant financial growth with the guidance of chairman David Barlow,” says Vallone. “As I look at where we’ve been and where we need to go, I see the next phase in McLean’s evolution as being one of accelerated growth and global expansion. The hospital is stronger than it ever has been before.”
Both Rauch and Vallone expressed deep appreciation for the achievements Barlow accomplished during his 10-year tenure as chair, including guiding McLean toward a tremendous growth in services, with more than a 30 percent increase in inpatient and residential beds and extension of the hospital’s reach beyond Massachusetts, from Maine to the Middle East.
“His commitment to compassionate, evidence-based, highest-quality care is reflected in McLean’s selection by U.S. News and World Report as the top freestanding psychiatric hospital for the 15th consecutive year, and #1 among all hospitals for psychiatry in 2017,” said Rauch. “Given David’s own career accomplishments in biopharmaceuticals, it has been no mere coincidence that McLean has successfully elevated its research portfolio to greater than $50 million in 2017, the largest in the hospital’s history.”
Building upon the foundation that Barlow set, Vallone believes the hospital is in a strong position to grow its physical and virtual reach globally.
“This is an exciting time for McLean,” said Vallone. “As the number one psychiatric hospital in the country, the stage is set. Now is the time to be bold and innovative and to revolutionize the delivery of psychiatric services.”
McLean Hospital is the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a member of Partners HealthCare. McLean has a continuous commitment to put people first in innovation and discovery, patient care, and shared knowledge related to mental health. In 2017, it was named the #1 hospital for psychiatric care in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. For more information about McLean, visit mcleanhospital.org or follow the hospital on Facebook or Twitter.