GEOFFREY COLE

NORWALK HOSPITAL

PRESIDENT AND CEO

On Thursday, February 28 th , Geoffrey F. Cole of Wilton , President and CEO of Norwalk Hospital, will address the Westport Y's Men on “ Norwalk Hospital 's New Initiatives.” The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East

Mr. Cole was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Norwalk Hospital in August 2004.

Since joining the hospital he has been focusing on building and strengthening services and programs that will better serve the health care needs of the community into the future. He will discuss trends in health care today and how Norwalk Hospital is committed to implement the latest tools and techniques to better serve the community.

Under Mr. Cole's leadership, the hospital has expanded numerous services and programs including Women and Children Services, Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery, Vascular Services, Imaging Services, the Smilow Family Breast Health Center and the Whittingham Cancer Center . Working with the Medical Staff and other key constituents, he is strengthening the hospital's clinical capabilities while addressing the challenges in health care today.

The hospital will soon be expanding and redesigning the Sleep Disorders Center and will continue to modernize its facility with complete renovations to the first floor as well as to the cafeteria and parking garage.

Projects recently completed at the hospital's main campus, include the Childbirth Center , the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, the Main Lobby, and the Emergency Department waiting area.

In addition, the hospital recently announced the most significant expansion of services and programs in its 114 year history. In addition to renovation work at the main campus location, the expansion will result in the addition of more than 250,000 square feet of space for medical facilities in the surrounding communities.

Norwalk Hospital has also been recognized as a leader in providing quality patient care. The hospital recently earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ for stroke care. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations awarded Norwalk Hospital Primary Stroke Center Certification.

Norwalk Hospital 's success in using multidisciplinary rounds to improve quality outcomes, enhance resident education and shorten hospital length of stay has received international attention in an article published in the August 2007 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Multidisciplinary rounds enhances communication among providers by enabling all members of the health care team caring for a patient to come together to offer their expertise.

Prior to joining Norwalk Hospital , Mr. Cole was President and Chief Executive Officer of Emerson Hospital in Concord , MA , for ten years.

Prior to his joining Emerson in 1994, Mr. Cole served as Chief Operating Officer for the 425-bed Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside , California .

Mr. Cole served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Hospital Association and was a regular guest lecturer in the Graduate School of Public Health at Harvard University and the Health Care Management Program at Boston University .

Mr. Cole holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Master's of Public Health Degree from the University of California at Berkeley , where he was a Regents Fellow in 1979.

For more information about the Y's Men, contact Bill Meyer, Membership Chairman at 226-3704 or Bob Fatherley, President at 454-3653 or visit our website: www.ysmenwestportweston