By Susan Elise Campbell
Saratoga Hospital brought on a new CEO last fall, Jill Johnson VanKuren, who with the end of her first year approaching has expressed her goal to “protect the integrity of the hospital while advancing the future needs of the community.”
VanKuren left her position as COO of MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore to accept her first CEO role.
“I was looking for an opportunity more in line with a traditional community hospital,” she said. “Here in Saratoga, there is one hospital in the county and people live, work and play in the same area, so staff are truly committed to the community.”
Although Saratoga Hospital has been affiliated with Albany Medical Center since 2017, VanKuren said it is “right at the beginning of the journey” of joining forces with the Capital District’s top hospital system.
“I had been with MedStar since its early inception and helped facilitate its progress of becoming a larger system,” she said. “The relationship with Albany Medical Center and Saratoga Hospital forming as a system was a unique opportunity for me.”