Executive Leadership

JOHN P. SHERIDAN, JR.
President and Chief Executive Officer

John P. Sheridan, Jr., is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Cooper Health System. He is responsible for the operations of Cooper University Hospital and Cooper’s more than 75 satellite offices throughout the region. He also is a member of The Cooper Health System Board of Trustees.Mr. Sheridan joined Cooper as Senior Executive Vice President in July 2005. He became Chief Administrative Officer in March of 2007 and President of Cooper University Hospital in September 2007. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of The Cooper Health System in February 2008.

His career spans forty years in governmental service, the practice of law and healthcare. Before joining Cooper, he was a senior partner and Co-Chairman of the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, LLP, which he joined in May 1985. While at Riker, he served for a number of years as General Counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Carrier Clinic. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Carrier Clinic, a not-for-profit psychiatric hospital in Belle Mead, N.J. for 25 years.

Mr. Sheridan also served in the Cabinet of Governor Thomas H. Kean as Commissioner of Transportation, and as Chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Transit Corporation from 1982 to 1985. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Assistant Counsel to Governor William T. Cahill, and Counsel to the New Jersey Senate Minority.

He is a graduate of St. Peter's College and received his law degree from Rutgers Law School. Mr. Sheridan also served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970.
John Sheridan is a member of The Cooper Foundation Board of Trustees and serves on the Executive Committee of Coopers Ferry Partnership. Mr. Sheridan is a member of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, the New Jersey Hospital Association and the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey. He serves on the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey Board & Executive Committee and served on New Jersey Governor Christies’ Healthcare Transition Subcommittee in 2010.

ADRIENNE KIRBY, PH.D., FACHE
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Adrienne Kirby, Ph.D., FACHE, is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Cooper Health System. She is responsible for the administration and management of The Cooper Health System’s health care delivery operations, including the hospital and physician organization. Kirby is also a member of the Cooper Health System Board of Trustees. She supports the Board and the President/CEO in establishing strategic direction for the organization and achieving its financial, service and quality goals.

Kirby joined Cooper in January 2012 with over 30-years of healthcare management experience, much of it at hospitals in the Delaware Valley. Prior to joining Cooper, Kirby served as President of Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore, a 380 bed community teaching hospital. Franklin Square is the third largest hospital in Maryland and has been nationally recognized for excellence in clinical quality. Prior to her accomplishments at Franklin Square, Kirby served in various leadership positions at Virtua Health, including Chief Operating Officer of Ambulatory Services and Programs of Excellence and Chief Operating Officer of Virtua Hospital Voorhees. At Virtua, she spent more than ten years building a foundation for growth, physician partnerships and development of services and facilities. Kirby has also worked at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she was involved in an international healthcare project in Kiev Ukraine.

Kirby has served as the chairman of numerous physician-health system joint venture boards. She has also served on many community boards in Southern New Jersey. In 2010 she led the Southern New Jersey American Heart Associate's Go Red for Women event.

Kirby earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Rutgers University and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2003 and a certified healthcare executive since 1998. Kirby was born at Cooper and raised in South Jersey.

CAROLYN BEKES, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Academic & Medical Affairs

Carolyn Bekes, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs for the Cooper Health System. A graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Dr. Bekes was awarded a Master of Health Administration from Widener in 1995. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at Cooper, and Nephrology at Cooper and Hahnemann. Dr. Bekes came to Cooper as the Director of the Intensive Care Unit in 1977, a position she retained until 1993 when she was asked to develop Cooper’s Clinical Outcomes program. She served as Vice President for Medical Affairs at Cooper from 1993 to 1999, at which time she was appointed Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer. Dr. Bekes is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Bekes has demonstrated leadership in critical care medicine at a national level. She served as a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Test and Policy Committee for Critical Care (the group which write the critical care board examination); and has risen through the leadership of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (the national critical care professional organization), finally serving as President of the organization from February 2000 – February 2001. She has also served as President of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Chair of the American College of Critical Care Medicine Board of Regents and Chair of the Critical Care Education and Research Foundation.

A resident of Cherry Hill, NJ, Dr. Bekes has also been a foster mother for two Vietnamese children.

GEORGE J. WEINROTH, ESQ
Chief Operating Officer for Cooper University Physicians

George J. Weinroth, Esq., a retired principal in the law firm of Mattleman, Weinroth, and Miller, was Chairman of The Cooper Foundation's Board of Trustees. He is a graduate of Trenton State College, and earned his J.D. with honors from Rutgers University School of Law.

Mr. Weinroth has been instrumental in organizing various fund-raising events on behalf of Cooper, including the Mercedes-Benz Golf Tournament and the Gala Extravaganza.

Professionally, Mr. Weinroth is licensed to practice before the Courts of the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and all U.S. District Courts pertaining thereto. He has been a Municipal Court Judge for Oaklyn and Woodlyne; and President of the Camden County Municipal Court Judges Association.

GARY J. LESNESKI
Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Gary J. Lesneski is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s legal affairs. Mr. Lesneski was most recently a partner and president of the law firm of Archer & Greiner, P.C. He concentrated his practice in health and hospital law, labor and litigation.

A graduate of Haverford College and University of Pennsylvania Law School, Mr. Lesneski has appeared in state and federal courts on a regular basis and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. His health and hospital practice focuses on administrative, regulatory, labor, litigation and corporate compliance issues. He has twice served as Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Health and Hospital Law Section, most recently in 2008-2009.

DOUGLAS E. SHIRLEY
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

As Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Douglas E. Shirley is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the finance function for the Cooper Health System. Mr. Shirley oversees Accounting, Revenue Cycle, Supply Chain, Treasury and Investment Management. In addition, he is Administrator of the Finance and Audit and Ethics Committees of Cooper’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Shirley joined Cooper in 2009 as Vice President of Revenue Cycle, where he was responsible for all revenue cycle functions of Cooper University Hospital and Cooper University Physicians.

Mr. Shirley has had a long and successful career in healthcare financial management, business development and process improvement. Prior to joining Cooper, he was Director of the Healthcare Advisory Practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Nashville, TN. Mr. Shirley earned his BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia.

LOUIS S. BEZICH
Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Cooper University Hospital

With more than thirty years of executive management experience, Mr. Bezich leads a number of system-wide initiatives. He is responsible for the development of Cooper’s accountable care business model, expansion of the sports medicine and student health programs, and provides strategic oversight of the Division of Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Medicine. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Camden Higher Education and Health Care Task Force.

Bezich most previously was Vice President of Administrative Services at Camden County College, one of New Jersey’s largest county colleges. He was responsible for a $75 million budget and directly oversaw finance, human resources, information technology, public safety, facilities and economic development.

From 1998 to 2008 Mr. Bezich founded and built Public Solutions, Inc., into South Jersey’s leading economic development consultancy. Prior to founding Public Solutions, Bezich had a distinguished career in business and public administration including service as County Administrator of Camden County.

Bezich has lectured and written extensively on the topic of economic development and public management and has been actively involved in programs dedicated to serving the higher education, healthcare and urban development of South Jersey. He is an adjunct professor at Rutgers University’s Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration.

GARY YOUNG
Executive Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy

Gary S. Young is the Executive Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy for The Cooper Health System. His career spans over thirty years of experience in strategic planning, marketing, statistical consulting, and government relations. Mr. Young has extensive expertise in health policy and regulatory affairs in New Jersey. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from The Pennsylvania State University. He also received a Master's Degree in Sociology with a concentration in market research, and held a research fellowship in applied statistics and economics, also at Penn State University.

Mr. Young began at Cooper in 1985 as Director of Planning and Marketing. He was subsequently promoted to Vice President for Planning and Marketing in 1996, and then appointed Executive Vice President for Planning and Marketing in 2000. He has served as Executive Vice President for Government Relations and Community Affairs since 2001. He has published papers on public policy and taught at Penn State University, Drexel University, and Rutgers University. Mr. Young has been a member of various health care strategy and government relations committees in both the New Jersey Hospital Association and the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, and is currently Chair of the Government Relations Committee for the Council of Teaching Hospitals.

Mr. Young is an active member of the American Sociological Association and the American Statistical Association. He is also a member of the American College of Health Care Executives.

Mr. Young and his family are residents of Cherry Hill, where he is involved in the community and his daughter's extracurricular activities.

DIANNE CHARSHA, R.N., M.S.N., N.N.P.-B.C.
Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer

Dianne Charsha, R.N., earned her BSN at Wilkes College in Wilkes Barre, P.A. She completed her MSN at the University of Pennsylvania, where she specialized in perinatal nursing. In 1992, she earned her Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner post graduate degree in neonatal nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Charsha has worked in a variety of clinical settings including pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, pediatrics, well nursery, women’s health and obstetrics. Prior to becoming Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Cooper, she had been a MCH clinical nurse specialist, a neonatal nurse practitioner, a nurse practitioner manager, and director of neonatal services.

Ms. Charsha has also demonstrated leadership in nursing at a national level. She has presented numerous neonatal topics since 1988 and is the author of chapters, articles, and videos all with the goal of enhancing nursing knowledge.

MAUREEN P. BARNES
Senior Vice President of Operations

Maureen P. Barnes is Senior Vice President of Operations for The Cooper Health System. In this role, she oversees clinical, non-nursing, hospital operations, including: laboratory, pharmacy, radiology, radiation oncology, radiation safety, human resources, and risk management and insurance, and leads numerous multi-disciplinary operational projects at Cooper.

Ms. Barnes’ career at Cooper spans more than two decades. She has held numerous leadership positions in Cooper’s Risk Management and Insurance department, managing hospital compliance, accreditation, insurance and regulatory issues. She most recently served as Vice President of Risk Management and Insurance and the hospital’s Chief Compliance Officer. Ms. Barnes has also been actively involved in the development and accreditation process of the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, where she served as Chief Administrative Officer.

Ms. Barnes earned her MBA in Health Care Administration from Temple University. She is also a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management and is Certified in Healthcare Compliance. In addition to her role at Cooper, Ms. Barnes is an adjunct professor in mathematics at Villanova University

DOUGLAS ALLEN, SPHR
Senior Vice President of Human Resources

As Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Doug Allen, SPHR, is responsible for the delivery of all human resources and employee health services at Cooper University Hospital. Mr. Allen has played a significant role in developing and implementing the organization’s culture change toward a patient and family centered care environment. A successful union negotiator, Mr. Allen has created quality management programs for all levels of staff and management with emphasis on productivity and customer service.

Mr. Allen has had a long career in healthcare management. Prior to joining Cooper in 2003, he was Chief Human Resource Officer for Hahnemann University Hospital, Vice President/Human Resources for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and Director of Human Resources for Health Care Plan of New Jersey, Inc.

Mr. Allen is an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania and a member of the adjunct faculty of Villanova University.

ELI T. WINKLER
Senior Vice President for Growth and Development

Mr. Winkler oversees Strategic Planning, Marketing and Community Outreach, the Physician Liaison Program and Real Estate Development.

He previously worked for Harrah’s Entertainment, where he focused on business development. Earlier in his career, Mr. Winkler was a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service, specializing in economics. He served in U.S. Embassies in China and Colombia.

Mr. Winkler has a B.A. from Northwestern University, a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary, and a MBA from Harvard University.