The leader of a behavioral health organization in upstate New York will lead Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor as its next president.
Mark A. Lukens is currently president and CEO of Integre Health, Behavioral Health Services North and CWI, which are health care organizations serving central and northern New York, said Bob Potts, Acadia Hospital’s spokesperson.
He will start in his new role July 17. He and his family are relocating to the Bangor area.
Lukens was chosen as president after “an exhaustive nationwide search,” Northern Light Health said in an announcement Thursday, though it’s not clear how many people applied and were interviewed for the job. The reveal comes as Acadia Hospital undergoes a $49.2 million expansion and two days after Eastern Maine Medical Center also named a new president.
Joining Acadia during a time when so many people across Maine and the nation are struggling with their mental and emotional health gives Lukens a “tremendous sense of purpose,” he said in a statement.
“The people of Acadia are doing amazing work, touching many lives and offering hope to people from across the state,” he said. “It is an honor to lend my experience and skills to their efforts, and I am excited to see what the future holds as we work together to improve access and services to behavioral health care in Maine.”
Acadia is one of two private psychiatric care hospitals in Maine.
Acadia’s last president and Northern Light Health’s senior vice president, Scott Oxley, stepped down May 1 to lead the Galen Cole Family Foundation. John Campbell, the hospital’s senior physician executive and vice president, is serving as interim president.
A search committee led by Shirar Patterson, vice chairperson of Acadia’s board of trustees, chose Lukens from a pool of candidates.
Lukens’ experience shows that he is well suited to lead Acadia during a critical time, Northern Light Health CEO and President Tim Dentry said in a statement.
“From his earliest days as a paramedic to his most recent work leading a multi-faceted behavioral health organization that covers 7,000 square miles in upstate New York, Mark is both compassionate to those in need of mental health services and adept at leading organizations with vision and purpose,” he said.
