Care New England Taps Tufts Exec as Retiring CEO's Successor

James E. Fanale, MD, will retire from his role as president and CEO of the Rhode Island system on December 1.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based Care New England (CNE) board announced that it has chosen a successor for its retiring president and CEO.

James E. Fanale, MD, who announced his retirement back in May, will be retiring sooner than what was originally announced. He will be succeeded on December 1 by Michael Wagner, MD, FACP, who currently serves on the executive team for Tufts Medicine.

Fanale served as president and CEO of CNE for nearly five years while also working as a practicing physician, which gave him a unique perspective as a health system executive.

"Working alongside the leadership team at Care New England to improve the quality of healthcare in Rhode Island, while making it more readily accessible and affordable, has been among the highlights of my career," Fanale said in a statement. "It is truly bittersweet to retire while there is still so much work to be done, however, the time has come for me to pass the torch to someone well-equipped to handle the challenges of operating a healthcare system of this magnitude. I will forever be grateful to those who hold the same vision I do, and that’s to always put patients first, no matter the circumstances."

His successor, Wagner, is also a physician and healthcare executive, with experience working in academic and community healthcare organizations across the country.

Most recently he served as chief physician executive for Tufts Medicine, a $2.2 billion integrated academic health system headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. He also serves as president and CEO of the Tufts Medicine professional group and Tufts Medical Center physicians organization.

In 2019, Wagner served as interim CEO for Tufts Medicine, which was called Wellforce at the time, where he led the formation of a single obligated group, the selection of a singular EMR platform, and led numerous strategic growth initiatives, according to the press release. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Tufts Medical Center.

After a failed merger with LifeSpan earlier this year, CNE remains an independent health system.