County businessmen
assume leadership posts on TAMC board
PRESQUE ISLE — Two prominent central Aroostook County business and community leaders have assumed leadership posts on the TAMC board of trustees. Gene Lynch II of Mapleton, president and owner of Lynox Welding Supply and Lynox Cleaning Systems, and Steven St. Pierre of Presque Isle, vice president and senior relationship manager for KeyBank, NA, have been elected chair and vice chair, respectively, of the hospital’s governing body.
Contributed photo
HOSPITAL LEADERSHIP — Gene Lynch II of Mapleton and Steven St. Pierre of Presque Isle were recently elected chair and vice chair, respectively, of the TAMC board of trustees. Board members are, from left, front row: Lynch and St. Pierre. Back row: trustees Dr. Michael Faloon, president of the TAMC medical staff; Alan Landeen of Stockholm; Barry McCrum of Mars Hill; Holly Johnson and Carl Flora, both of Presque Isle; Lynn Lombard of Caribou; Brett Varnum of Easton; Carol Bell of Presque Isle; Joe Lallande of Fort Fairfield; and Sylvia Getman, TAMC president and CEO and senior vice president for EMHS. Absent when the photo was taken were Dr. John Beaulieu, vice president of the TAMC medical staff; Michelle Hood, president and CEO of EMHS; and Peter St. John of Winterville Plantation.
“Gene and Steve are exceptional leaders who understand the critical importance of TAMC’s role as the most comprehensive provider of health care services in the northern part of our state,” said Sylvia Getman, TAMC president and CEO and senior vice president of EMHS. “They are also innovative and entrepreneurial minded in their approach to leading our board and engaging with our leadership team in meaningful discussion on how we strive to accomplish our vision to become the best rural health care organization in the country.”
Lynch joined the board in 2007. He assumes the position of chair from Lynn Lombard of Caribou, vice president/director of human resources of MMG Insurance. Lombard led the board for two years and now serves as a director and immediate past president.
Lynch is keenly aware of the important role TAMC holds in the community. In addition to leading a growing family business that has locations in Presque Isle, Bangor and Portland, Lynch has been a pilot since 1979. In 2001, he began flying critically ill and injured patients and the crews caring for them from the county to larger medical and trauma centers. He and his wife, Pam, are the parents of three sons, two of whom are doctors.
“As a medevac pilot I became more engaged and directly involved in patient care. It opened a new perspective on what a tremendous asset our hospital was for our community and how fortunate we were to have such a facility to provide the highest quality of care for our friends and neighbors,” said Lynch. “Airplanes are fast, health care is changing faster. While the previous health care model was built around cost-based pricing, in order to survive we need to move quickly toward price-based costing.
“Health care providers need to drive inefficiency and waste out and move toward a value-based model where efficiency, transparency, quality and low cost are the new norm,” he said. “Patients will expect it, health care markets will demand it, and competition will force it. I feel very confident that the TAMC team is leading the way in this regard.”
Lynch understands both the patient care and business side of the hospital’s operation. He worked his way up through the ranks at Welding Supply Co., starting as a driver/salesman in 1973, transitioning to outside sales in 1977, and becoming operations manager in 1981. In 1993, Lynch and his three brothers purchased the company and renamed it Lynox Welding Supply. At that same time, the brothers founded Lynox Cleaning Systems, which markets industrial pressure washers, water recycling equipment, and commercial cleaning detergents and cleaning supplies across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Lynch is involved in his community, serving on the NMCC metal fabrication program advisory committee and as a member and former board member of the Presque Isle Rotary Club. He additionally is a past squadron commander for the Civil Air Patrol and a past president of the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club.
St. Pierre, who joined the TAMC board of trustees in 2012, was elected vice chair by his colleagues. He has been with KeyBank, NA for 20 years of his 33-year banking career. St. Pierre’s clients include several health care-related businesses, construction firms, logging and trucking contractors, municipalities, school districts, retail establishments and non-profit organizations.
“I am so pleased to be working with such a highly trained, experienced and dedicated team here at TAMC. The challenges facing health care today, along with the added burdens relating to providing superior health care in a rural community, are unprecedented. TAMC has a team of professional and compassionate providers at all levels, supported by an administrative and support staff focused on making the delivery of coordinated patient care seamless, efficient, and most importantly, safe and effective,” said St. Pierre. “In my sincere opinion, TAMC, along with the support of the EMHS network, is well positioned to manage these challenges and be successful in serving the health and wellness needs of people in northern Maine for many years to come.”
St. Pierre earned his bachelor of science degree in business finance from the University of Maine in 1981, and has since attended, completed and instructed several banking courses, seminars and schools, including the New England School of Banking at Williams College, where he graduated with honors; the Advanced Commercial Lending and Credit Analysis School at the State University of New York at Buffalo; and the American Bankers’ Association National Consumer Credit School at the University of Oklahoma.
St. Pierre has been active in the community and civic organizations including with the Presque Isle Rotary Club, Aroostook Partnership for Progress, Aroostook Aspirations Initiative, Maine Adoption Placement Services, Northern New England Center for Financial Training, United Way of Aroostook, University of Maine Mentor Program, and the Presque Isle Country Club. A native of Ashland, St. Pierre and his wife, Bethany, have one son.
