FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2006
CONTACT: Tom Hanley, Public Relations Director
860.545.9954 or pager 860.220.3562 

"CONNECTICUT CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER SELECTS MARTIN J. GAVIN AS NEW PRESIDENT & CEO "

HARTFORD – Connecticut Children’s Medical Center announces today that Martin J. Gavin of Avon has been selected as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. Gavin, 56, who has been serving as interim President and CEO since January, emerged as the clear choice of the board of directors after a five month national search. “

We had a very strong pool of good candidates. Nineteen individuals from across the country applied for the position. Three very solid finalists emerged at the end,” said search committee chair Thomas Barnes. “But, as a board, we have also seen how Marty Gavin has been making a real difference in his interim role these past several months.”

Barnes, the vice chair of the board of directors, cited Gavin’s executive experience, his management and leadership skills, and his community involvement as key factors in his selection. “Marty had 12 years of experience on this board, including serving as chair of the board during the opening of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. He has been living the role as interim CEO, and as the co-chair of the Oversight Committee since September. We have a lot of confidence in the job he’s been doing. He’s had remarkable success in a relatively short time in his interactions with leaders in state government, employees and physicians and the community we serve. He’s touched all the bases and has CCMC moving in the right direction,” Barnes said.

Edward Lewis, chairman of the board of directors said, “Marty’s decisive leadership is important to the progress being made in quality improvement and getting things done throughout the organization. Already the emergency department redesign has been completed and the new digital radiology system installation is in place. The work Marty began with Dr. Peter Deckers on the Oversight Committee is setting the stage for a bright future.”

Gavin said he was “honored to be asked to carry forward the work that I began on an interim basis five months ago. I have had a love for this organization and its mission since I began my board service in 1989. I thank the staff and the physicians for their commitment to caring for children and families. Everyone here is working together to strengthen our systems and capabilities to ensure that every child receives the best possible care. Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has been an important part of improving children’s health for the past 10 years, and will continue going forward for years to come.”

Gavin said an important next step now that he has been named President & CEO is to launch a national search for a Chief Medical Officer and a Chief Operating Officer. Since January, Dr. Peter Deckers, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at the UConn Health Center, has been serving as interim chief medical officer. James Thornton, Controller at UConn Health Center, has been serving as interim chief operating officer. Marty Gavin was appointed interim President and CEO by the board of directors on January 6 following the resignation of former president and CEO Larry Gold.

After 12 years of board membership, Gavin had retired in 2000. He was re-appointed to the CCMC board of directors in September 2005 to serve as co-chair of a board oversight committee with Dr. Peter Deckers, Executive Vice President of the University of Connecticut Health Center, and Dean of the School of Medicine.

A retired executive with more than 27 years of experience in the insurance and investment industries, Gavin had been on the board of directors of Newington Children’s Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center from 1989 to 2000. He was chairman of the board when CCMC opened on April 2, 1996. He worked for 16 years at the Phoenix Companies, in Hartford, retiring in 2000. While at the Phoenix, Gavin held various positions, including Senior Vice President of Phoenix Home Life, Executive Vice President of its investment subsidiaries, and President of its national trust company.

Prior to joining the Phoenix, he worked at CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago, Illinois, as head of its pension and institutional asset management division. Gavin began his career at CIGNA (formerly Connecticut General) where he held a series of management positions in the marketing and client service divisions of CIGNA’s Group Pension operations.

Active in the community, Gavin has served on the boards of directors of the Child Health and Development Institute, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut (Chair), the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (Chair), the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation (Chair), the Connecticut Health System, the Greater Hartford YMCA, and Saint Joseph College. In addition, he has been appointed to several advisory committees to assist state and local governments and not-for-profit institutions. Gavin is a corporator of both Hartford Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. For 12 years he served as a volunteer coach in youth sports leagues in Connecticut and Illinois.

Gavin is a 1972 graduate of the University of Connecticut and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

A native of Waterbury, he has been married for 33 years to Kathy Gavin, an Associate Professor in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. The Gavins have two married children and a grandchild and live in Avon.

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford is the only freestanding hospital in the state that is exclusively dedicated to the care of children. A teaching hospital, it is home to the pediatric residency program of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. The 135-bed hospital provides the full range of inpatient and outpatient pediatric programs, medical and surgical subspecialties. CCMC has affiliations with nine community hospitals around the state for pediatric services. Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its opening in 1996.