Anthony Cichello Named New Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Milton, Mass. – At its recent Annual Meeting of the Boards of Trustees and Advisors, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton (BID Milton) announced Anthony Cichello as the new chairman of the Board of Trustees, along with six new members on the Board of Trustees and three new members on the Board of Advisors. Michael Berry, MD, Morgan Besnick, MD, Stacey Cornforth, Stephen Denny, Ebi Okara, and Alisa Kim have joined the Board of Trustees. Three more individuals, Cathy Denny, Kathleen Harrington, and Nancy Drew, have joined the Board of Advisors.

“We are honored to have this new group of accomplished people from our community join the hospital Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors, bringing with them a wealth of experience and proven leadership to the hospital,” said Richard Fernandez, president of BID Milton. “We are truly fortunate and grateful for their decision to serve, and I look forward to their advocacy and fresh ideas. We are also grateful to Mike Brady for his many years of leadership and service with the Board of Trustees.”

“Although it’s difficult to step back from my role as chair of the Board of Trustees, I am very excited and confident in the Board’s choice for your next chair,” said Mike Brady, outgoing chair of the Board of Trustees, who has served for more than ten years. “Tony Cichello is an excellent choice. He is a genuinely incredible person who gives so much of himself. He’s an involved, reliable good friend to many and active member of our local community. I am proud to pass the baton to Tony.”

Anthony Cichello, who is a partner with Krokidas & Bluestein LLP, has served on the Board of Trustees for ten years before being named board chair. “I feel lucky to be jumping into this new role as chair during this moment. This has certainly been a difficult couple of years. If there is one thing that the COVID pandemic has made abundantly clear is that strong hospitals are not only necessary they are crucial,” said Cichello. “I have been amazed at how our hospital and staff came together to take care of our community during one of the most challenging healthcare crisis’ in our history.”

At the annual meeting, Fernandez said he is proud of the staff at the hospital. “Our staff is relentless, they are compassionate, and they are human. They are also tired. They’re struggling not just with the physical impact of the pandemic. They are dealing with the mental blows that this thing has hit us with. Through it all, the care has not changed. Compassion has not waivered. And the commitment to this community is real.”

New Board of Trustees Members:

Michael Berry, MD
Michael Berry is an orthopedic surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton. Berry began practicing at Milton Hospital in 1984 and has continued to work for the hospital since this time. He has held leadership roles at the hospital including serving as Chief of Orthopedics at BID Milton since 1986 and Chief of Surgery from 2004-2011. He is a Phi-Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Vermont and was a member of the university’s athletic hall of fame. Berry completed his medical training in Boston at the New England Deaconess and Tufts-New England Medical Center.

Morgan Besnick, MD
Morgan Besnick is a general and bariatrics surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton and Harvard Medical Faculty Practice, and an instructor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. Besnick is board certified and an associate fellow of the American College of Surgeons. She is also a member of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Besnick also serves as the medical director of the Surgical Physician’s Assistant Program at BID Milton. She received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed an advanced fellowship program in bariatric surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Stacey Cornforth
Stacey Cornforth is a senior vice president and the head of Investor Relations at Abrams Capital, which she joined in 2009. She previously served on the Board of Advisors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton. She holds a BA from Queen’s University in Canada, and an MBA from the F.W. Olin School of Business at Babson College.

Stephen Denny
Stephen Denny is head of Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion for Putnam Investments. He manages all aspects of the firm’s diversity strategy, focusing on integrating diversity into every aspect of the business — including workforce, customers, suppliers, products, and services. He joined Putnam in 1994 where he has held numerous leadership positions. He received his BA from Fordham University.

Ebi Okara, Ed
Ebi Okara, Ed, is the founder of Metis Psychological Associates, LLC, a private mental health practice established in 2009 with locations in Randolph and Medfield. He has been a clinical psychologist for more than 25 years. He graduated with a BA from Vanderbilt University, received his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Psychology from Tennessee State University in Nashville. He was born and raised in Nigeria.

Alisa O’Neil, JD
Alisa O’Neil is the chief planning officer at Boston Financial Management where she has worked since 2015. Her accreditations and affiliations include being an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP), a Certified Estate and Financial Advisor (CTFA), a Certified Divorce Financial analyst (CDFA), and a Board Officer of the Boston Estate Planning Council. She previously served on the Board of Advisors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton. She received her BA, cum laude, from Midwestern State University and her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School.

New Board of Advisors Members:

Cathy Denny
Cathy Denny runs Choice Community Supports, a local organization that provides professional services to mentally and physically challenged individuals.

Kathleen Harrington
Kathleen Harrington is BID Milton’s former vice president of Human Resources. She was with the hospital for 40 years.

Nancy Drew, MD
Nancy Drew is a primary care physician who has joined Beth Israel Lahey Health at Crown Colony in Quincy. Previously, for almost 20 years, she was with Granite Medical in Quincy.

About Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Milton (BID Milton) is a member of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals. More than 4,700 physicians and 39,000 employees share in a mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.