BENNINGTON, VT—November 9, 2023—Following a national search, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member of Dartmouth Health, announces that Robert Laba will be its next chief financial officer. Laba joins SVMC from Adirondack Health in Saranac Lake, NY, where he served as chief financial officer and vice president of finance of the 95-bed, community hospital since 2018.

Laba holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in health care administration from Columbia Southern University and a Bachelor of Science from Plattsburgh State University.

Laba’s career at Adirondack Health began in 2012 when he joined the organization’s finance department. In 2017, he served as the assistant vice president of Finance. He progressed into chief financial officer/vice president of finance role where he achieved year‐over-year financial improvement; developed a five-year capital plan for facilities, information technology, and equipment; and worked on many strategic service line projects. Most recently, he led a financial recovery plan yielding a projected $10,000,000 turnaround from 2022 to 2023. During his tenure at Adirondack Health, he was key to the $45,000,000 modernization & renovation construction projects, which built a new Health & Medical Fitness Center in Lake Placid and a new, state of the art perioperative suite in the main hospital facility in Saranac Lake.

SVMC president and CEO Tom Dee said, “I am pleased to have such an outstanding fiscal expert with such a tremendous track record of steering long-term diversified strategic growth join our leadership team. I’m confident he will put that experience to work and help us successfully navigate the challenging and ever-changing financial landscape that exists in healthcare today.”

Speaking of his decision to join SVMC, Laba noted, “I look forward to continuing to build upon the strong financial foundation that already exists here at SVMC. The recently strengthened relationship with Dartmouth Health speaks to the organization’s commitment to make decisions that not only make fiscal sense, but provide tremendous benefit to the communities served. It’s an honor to join the SVMC leadership team.”

Laba and his wife of 21 years has a son, who is a freshman at the University of Vermont studying civil engineering.

Laba’s tenure at SVMC began on October 2, 2023.


About SVMC:
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member hospital of Dartmouth Health, is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVMC includes Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the SVHC Foundation, as well as 25 primary and specialty care practices.

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