WILMINGTON — Nemours Children Health is bringing on Mark Marcantano, an experienced health care executive with roles at pediatric academic medical centers, as its next Delaware Valley regional president.
He will take on the role effective Jan. 1, and report to Nemours Enterprise Chief Operating Officer Mark Mumford, who had led the region along with other duties.
Nemours Children’s Health is one of the largest multi-state pediatric health systems in the world, featuring two children’s hospitals in Wilmington and near Orlando, Fla. The health care system has a network of more than 70 primary, specialty and urgent care practices in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida. The Wilmington hospital off Powder Mill Road in Wilmington’s Fairfax suburb is also internationally recognized for its work in cancer, blood and bone marrow transplantation, cardiology and neurosurgery.
“Mark brings a perfect blend of both ambulatory and inpatient experience to the new role of Regional President for Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley,” Mumford said in a prepared statement. “His six years at Boston Children’s, experience leading Care New England’s Women and Infants Hospital, and his most recent role at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, position him well to lead our commitment to purposeful growth, increased patient and associate engagement, innovation and value-based care.”
Marcantano comes to Nemours after his recent tenure at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore, where he was tasked with administrative duties such as strategy, operations, finances and budgeting. His resume includes executive roles at Albany Medical College as well as Boston Children’s Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.
But his career also includes work with the startup Exochain that uses blockchain technology to protect identity data as well as leadership at Meeting Street, a nonprofit that develops individualized education services for children.
Marcantano started his career in environmental law and land use approvals, and got his start in health care management when a client wanted to run his work by his relative, who was the board chairman of Albany Medical Center. Once a new dean at the medical college was in place, Marcantano was asked to join the leadership team.
“I was doing a bucket list item at the time, starting a law firm with my wife. But you never know who you’re going to meet and who’s watching your work,” he said. “Next thing I know, I’m winding up affairs at the firm and jumping into academic medicine.”
While serving as the executive vice president and chief operating officer at Albany Medical Center, Marcantano watched its physician practices and biomedical research flourish. It also started a 20-year career in health care, with roles like vice president of ambulatory and network services at Boston Children’s Hospital, which had a main campus, nine other network locations and a community health center that recorded 55,000 visits annually.
In 2010, he became president and CEO of Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, which delivered between 10 and 20 times more babies than six other hospitals in the state. After leaving Women & Infants Hospital in 2017 amid a planned acquisition, Marcantano then went on to help lead Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and administrator for the Department of Pediatrics.
“We all have talents and gifts, and it really is a question of what you want to use them for,” Marcantano said on his transition from environmental law to health care executive. “I did take stock of that, and then, boom, this mission of academic medicine comes up. Not only that, it was with a world-class system and training up the next generation of the best and brightest. It became a no-brainer to make the most of the opportunity.”
At Johns Hopkins, Marcantano points to his work in standing up a heart center with a multi-pronged strategy for the world-class hospital, but also noted that Nemours was pioneers in many areas that excited him, such as telehealth and dedicated specialty practices.
“One of the top lines of why this opportunity is so exciting is that the dedicated pediatric integrated health system is one of the best. It’ll be a totally different thing when all you do every day, all day is pediatrics,” he said.
In his first weeks, Marcantano plans to understand the needs of the community and figure out the best way to motivate his team to advance Nemours’ values of excellence.
“I do see Delaware Valley as the flagship of the Nemours system, and to whom much is given, much is required. First and foremost, that’s about doing all you can for the patients, families and stakeholders in the Delaware Valley,” Marcantano added. “What makes Nemours so well-positioned to do things in a large measure is that system, and make sure all boats rise high so that all needs are served – and the system continues to survive and thrive.”
