Salem Hospital On Cusp Of Leadership Change With New President

SALEM, MA — Roxanne Ruppel, a trained physical therapist who began working at Salem Hospital more than two decades ago, is the hospital's new president and chief executive officer effective on March 1.

Ruppel, who has been the senior vice president of operations since 2009, replaces David Roberts, who will become the senior vice president of community operations at Mass General Brigham

Ruppel spent 10 years as a practicing physical therapist clinician before transitioning to administrative roles. She joined the staff of the former Shaughnessy-Kaplan Rehabilitation Hospital in 1997 as Director of Outpatient Services and a short time later joined the Strategy and Planning Department at Salem Hospital.

Roberts was the president and chief executive officer at Salem Hospital for the past six years and was a key consultant for Salem officials as they considered both recurring mask mandates and a short-lived vaccination requirement to enter non-essential business amid the first two years of the COVID-19 health crisis.

"We are so grateful to Dr. Roberts for his expertise and support, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic, and for his unwavering focus on kindness and compassion," Ruppel said in a statement. "He leaves big shoes to fill and I am eager to continue his commitment to provide exceptional care to our community.

"We have an outstanding team of physicians, nurses and staff at Salem Hospital and I am honored to join with them in advancing our organization into the future."

Ruppel has overseen key strategic and operational initiatives at Salem Hospital, including emergency services, medicine, cardiology, surgery, pediatrics, radiology, psychiatry, mental health and women's health.

She also led the development of the Mass General/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)