Wentworth-Douglass Hospital's new president is a nurse: 'I am ready to pitch in'

DOVER — Darin Roark, the new chief operating officer and president of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, is the first nurse to lead the hospital, and he could not be happier about it.

Roark, 52, is the 12th leader in Wentworth-Douglass' 120-year history. He started the job in July, bringing more than 20 years of experience in health care.

"I will maintain my nursing license here in New Hampshire, and I am ready and willing to pitch in wherever I am needed," he said. "I have done every job in nursing, and I know how it works. So, I hopefully know what will work for us. Nursing is a great job because at the end of the day, you know you helped someone. It is a feeling not felt in many other careers."

Mass General Brigham, which acquired Wentworth-Douglass in 2017, announced Roark's hiring in June. He came from Florida, where he was hospital president of Baptist Medical Center Clay in Fleming Island, Florida, and system vice president of ambulatory campuses and emergency services for Baptist Health, a nonprofit health system based in Jacksonville. Baptist Health has six hospitals, including a children’s hospital, three free-standing emergency departments, more than 200 care locations and 14,000 employees.

"I felt I could make an impact elsewhere," Roark said, explaining his move to New Hampshire. "My wife, Natasha, sent me this posting, for the job here. I loved Florida but I did miss the four seasons. I looked at other postings, too, but we felt this was the one. If I didn't get it, I would stay where I was for now."

Roark holds a master of business administration degree from Northern Illinois University, a bachelor of science in nursing from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor of arts in business marketing from North Central College. He also serves as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives .

Roark said since he graduated from nursing school in 1999, he has done every single nursing job there is, making him uniquely suited to his new position. He began his career at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, working in the level 1 trauma center.

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"While I was in school, I worked as an ER technician, what is called an LNA here," said Roark.

Life-threatening experience helped lead Roark to become a nurse

Roark said his career path seems chosen for him because when he graduated from high school being a nurse was not where he thought his life would go.

"I wanted to be an airline pilot, but I have bad eyes," he said. "In high school, I took a job working for Cigna, doing data entry for medical claims. At 16, I was promoted to supervisor. I learned a lot about corporate structure and health insurance. I quit in my senior year because I was working too many hours. I had no time for life. I took a job at Kmart because it was easy. When I graduated from high school, I did a semester at a junior college and then Cigna hired me back, in the mailroom."

Roark said the man who hired him helped him grow in the business. In three months, he had worked in every department.

"He promoted me and gave me the state of Illinois as an account," Roark said. "I sold to Caremark and moved to Texas."

While there, Roark had a terrible accident in his parents' home. He suffered a severe electric shock while trying to vacuum embers from a fireplace that had been knocked onto the floor while stoking the fire. He said he nearly died, saved by his brother knocking the vacuum cleaner out of his hand with a thrown object, breaking the connection.

"I woke up in an ambulance with paddles on my chest," he said. "It was one of those moments where you assess what you are doing with your life. I quit the job and went to be a waiter at Olive Garden. I volunteered at the local ER, where my brother was a nurse. Eventually, I was offered the job of trauma registrar. As I watched people be rescued, I realized I had found my calling. I enrolled in nursing school at age 25."

Roark said he has been lucky in life.

"I think I had people who believed in me way more than I believed in myself," he said. "I found I really enjoyed caring for people and decided this was where my life will go."

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Eventually, Roark took on a nurse leadership position.

"My mantra then and to this day is, leave the world, and places I work, a better place," Roark said. "I believe in that, and I work with that in mind, always."

Roark said he had a great career in Florida, and he believed he had accomplished what he set out to do, so he felt ready for a new challenge.

"We love the Seacoast," he said. "You can go to the beach and the mountains in the same day if you like. My son, Anderson, is enrolled at Portsmouth Middle School, and we want to get involved in our community, we already love it. I was a big boater in Florida, and I will pursue that here. The water is colder, but we still love it. My son just got a 125 Yamaha bike, so my wife and I bought an ATV so we can explore with him. We have two French bulldogs, and they are now riding with us.

Roark in process of making his goals for Wentworth-Douglass

Roark said he wants to help Wentworth-Douglass retain their Leapfrog A grade for safety. "COVID is a disease that will always be with us now, so we want to learn all we can and assure our communities are as safe as they can be," he said.

He praised the hospital's growing birthing center, which recently started taking on clients of York Hospital in Maine, which recently stopped providing baby deliveries.

"We are thrilled that York Hospital came to us to take over their birthing role," he said.

Roark said he is in a "listening phase" as the hospital's new leader. He said he is listening to his board, to the people in the community, to learn how things are working, what is working well, and where there is room for improvement.

Staffing is an issue Roark wants to address. He said hiring is a nationwide problem and the hospital is actively working with area nursing schools, to offer incentives to bring in quality personnel in nursing, lab works and other technologies.

Roark said he wants to work to overcome the stigma in the areas of substance use and mental health.

"We have five mental health beds here," he said. "They are separate from the rest of the hospital, but I know it is not a place you want to be. I think six hours max is what they should be used for, and then we need to get people the help they need. We have great connections with the state though the Doorway, right across the street and I want to see us use that resource better."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Darin Roark, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital's new president, is a nurse