NASHUA – Tom Wilhelmsen Jr., president and CEO of Southern New Hampshire Health System, announced his retirement Tuesday after nearly three decades with the health care group.

Wilhelmsen will retire June 30, and Michael Rose, SNHHS CFO and vice president, will take the helm.

"I’ve been with the organization as president and CEO since 1988. I’m finishing my 28th year. It’s been a wonderful 28 years with the organization. I’m turning 65 in June, and that triggers a normal retirement date," Wilhelmsen said Tuesday. "Basically, it’s time for me to be on my own schedule."

Speaking at the group’s headquarters on Prospect Street in Nashua, he said, "I have a lot of interests, and fortunately I’m in good health. So I have to figure out how to balance golf, boating, travel; all the things that you put off when you have a busy career. I’m now going to see which of my many interests will become my passion."

In a release, board of trustees Chairman Timothy Sullivan said, "Tom’s vision, dedication and legacy of remarkable contributions to the health and well-being of the greater Nashua community are defined by our system’s strength, breadth and depth of care today. He has been magnificent in leading this organization over the last 28 years."

Sullivan said trustees voted unanimously to appoint Rose to the hospital’s top post.

Wilhelmsen noted that the city and surrounding area was growing through the 1980s and 1990s when he joined what was then Nashua Memorial Hospital.

"Even in the past decade there’s still growth in our population. As a hospital, this is opportunity to study the needs of the community and grow as it grows. That’s what Nashua Memorial did," he said. "We changed our vision of being just a community hospital to filling the needs of the community as a system.

Under his leadership Foundation Medical Partners arose in 1992. Wilhelmsen said he remembers the very first members, and is now has nearly 290 providers who, as he put it, "collaborate to meet the needs of the community."

"I certainly have a tough act to follow," Rose said Tuesday. "He has positioned the organization extremely well going forward. Our facilities are up to date. We have a fully-integrated physician group. We’re financially strong. We’re in a good market. All the right pieces are in place to continue the momentum."

However, Rose said it won’t be easy moving forward.

"We’re certainly going through a period of unprecedented change in health care." The Affordable Care Act, he said, is injecting "a tremendous amount of change in the marketplace. Even beyond that, the commercial marketplace is changing rapidly."

He noted employees are absorbing more healthcare costs, which in turn has pushed SNHHS to "be more consumer-focused. Consumers are more price-sensitive now."

Rose said there will be a lot of change looking ahead, including how healthcare is chosen and paid for, as well as demographic changes, specifically when considering the Baby Boom generation.

"It’s good to have all of those things that have positioned us well to help us navigate through that period of change. Change will accelerate the next couple of decades. We know what’s coming and we’ve been preparing for that," said Rose.

Among Wilhelmsen’s accomplishments, beyond the expansion of the campus facilities, is establishing Southern New Hampshire Health’s clinical affiliation with Massachusetts General Hospital.

In a statement, Wilhelmsen said, "when I made the decision to join Southern New Hampshire Health almost 30 years ago, it was because of my respect and admiration for the people here, their friendly nature, open-minded attitude, and their commitment to doing whatever they could to move this organization forward."

Tuesday, he said, "now that I’ve put in my time, I’m looking toward the next episode of my life."

Don Himsel can be reached at 594-6590, dhimsel@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DonH.

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