Meet Our Merrimack Health Leadership Team
Diana L. Richardson, President and CEO
Diana L. Richardson is a highly respected health care executive with 20 years of leadership experience in hospital system operations. She is known for her collaborative approach and thoughtful decision-making, as well as her commitment to strong employee engagement. She has a proven track record of driving growth, improving service quality, and strengthening financial performance.
Diana is a familiar partner to the organization, having partnered with us as senior transition liaison with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she played a key role in the state's incident command response to Steward Health Care's bankruptcy.
Prior to that, Diana served as executive vice president of Tufts Medicine and president of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, after previously holding the role of senior vice president and chief operating officer. Additionally, she was vice president of operations at UF Health – Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL.
George Kondylis, MD, Chief Physician Executive & Medical Officer
As chief medical officer and former chief of emergency medicine at Lawrence Hospital, Dr. George Kondylis has been an integral player in helping shape Lawrence Hospital's Emergency Center into what it is today. Over the last 20 years, Dr. Kondylis has been instrumental in transitioning us to a brand new Emergency Department in 2005, creating an EC pediatric area, EC ultrasound program, and most recently, an ECOU observation unit which has shown noteworthy improvement in patient throughput.
He has been an important leader for the medical staff, chairing the Credentials Committee and taking on further hospital leadership roles in the hospitalist program and GLFHC residency program.
Dr. Kondylis graduated from Boston University, attended medical school at Wake Forest, and finished his residency in emergency medicine at SUNY Syracuse. He has substantial experience both here and at UMass Medical Center in emergency medicine, emergency management services program supervision and LifeFlight programs.
Anthony Alley, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Executive & Quality Officer
Anthony Alley oversees the continuous efforts to improve the quality of our care and ensure Merrimack Health meets and exceeds the many regulatory requirements and performance target measures set for hospitals and outpatient care settings.
Prior to his role at Merrimack Health, Anthony spent 17 years at Melrose Wakefield Healthcare, where his responsibilities were incredibly wide ranging. Anthony has a master’s in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a board-certified nurse executive, certified health care finance professional, and has earned his Six Sigma green belt. Anthony currently serves as the nurse executive on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing and sits on the Massachusetts Hospital Association’s Clinical Issues Advisory Council. Anthony is an active member of many professional organizations, including The American College of Healthcare Executives, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the National Association of Healthcare Quality.
John H. Whitlock Jr., Chief Financial Officer
John H. Whitlock is a highly experienced and respected leader in health care finance, bringing a wealth of knowledge in both for-profit and not-for-profit acute and post-acute care settings. His expertise spans the full continuum of financial planning and budgeting, revenue cycle, managed care, treasury, and supply chain. John’s extensive experience includes leadership roles across health systems throughout New England.
Most recently, John served as the CEO of MetroWest Medical Center and CFO for Tenet Healthcare’s Massachusetts Market, including both MetroWest Medical Center and Saint Vincent’s Hospital. His extensive experience includes roles at Vanderbilt University, Price Waterhouse LLP, and Mount Carmel Health System. Prior to his tenure at Tenet, John was vice president of finance and CFO at Central Maine Healthcare. Known for his thoughtful and strategic leadership, John has successfully driven productivity and financial improvements while maintaining a strong focus on advocating for quality patient care.
Nicole A. Thyne, MHA, Chief Information Officer
A seasoned IT and health care operations leader, Nicole A. Thyne brings extensive experience in digital transformation, system integration, and process optimization. She previously served as chief information officer at UMass Memorial Medical Center – Milford Regional Health Center, where she led a team of more than 60 employees and managed a $7 million IT budget. She played a key role in implementing new technologies, integrating teams, and enhancing digital experiences for both staff and patients.
Most recently, Nicole served as executive vice president and chief operating officer, where she oversaw a division of over 600 employees, including Information Technology, Imaging, Facilities, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Laboratory, Food and Nutrition, and Environmental Services. In this role, she successfully led complex initiatives such as the MEDITECH Expanse EHR and Enterprise Imaging implementations, as well as expanded systems integration with academic medical centers and other post-acute facilities to enhance coordination of care.
Christine Basil, MSN, RN, Interim Vice President, Human Resources
As the site administrator for our Methuen and Haverhill Hospitals, Christine Basil partners with other members of the executive leadership team to ensure quality, equity and compassionate care on those campuses.
Christine has a strong passion for operational excellence and a proven background in workforce development, mentorship, team building and clinical integration.
She has over 20 years of experience in health care leadership and has been afforded several opportunities throughout her career, including in Emergency Department, acute care, case management and professional development and education.
Christine holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fairfield University and a master’s in nursing from the University of Hartford. She also received her case management certification from the University of Indiana.
Prior to Merrimack Health, Christine held leadership positions at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.
With over three decades of experience, Juan Bellido brings extensive operational expertise to our organization, particularly in the health care sector. Throughout his career, Juan has worked in various capacities with health care providers, regulatory agencies, private firms, and payors. Before joining us, he spent 13 years at Lifespan Corporation (now Brown University Health), where he worked closely with senior management and clinical leadership as a transactional, regulatory oversight, and designated medical staff attorney.
He held similar roles earlier in his career at Partners HealthCare (now MassGeneral Brigham), and more recently, at Humana, where he worked with their managed care team on deploying new member services and provided counsel to their home health services. Juan holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School.
Gina Hale,Vice President, Facilities & Real Estate
Gina began her career working in the chemical waste and laboratory safety industry managing environmental safety programs on the east and west coasts. She transitioned into healthcare as the Safety Officer at Tufts Medical Center’s Environmental Health and Safety Department where she managed all programs related to chemical and biological safety and also Joint Commission preparedness, OSHA programs, patient safety, and various aspects of risk management.
She has over two decades of experience leading cross-functional teams to operational success. In addition to health and safety, she has vast knowledge and experience with all healthcare support services including facilities, construction, biomedical engineering, and hospitality.
Gina holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an MBA from UMass Boston. Gina has also been a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager for over 15 years.
Lori Howley, Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Lori Howley is an accomplished marketing and communic
ations strategist with more than 15 years of executive leadership experience in both academic medicine and community health systems.
She is known for building strong, collaborative teams and developing integrated strategies that elevate brand reputation, strengthen engagement, and support organizational growth. Lori brings deep expertise across the full spectrum of marketing and communications including media and public relations, issues management, digital strategy and marketing, internal and corporate communications, and community engagement.
Throughout her career, she has guided organizations through periods of change and transformation, helping align communication, culture, and brand to drive lasting impact.
Her professional background includes leadership roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lahey Health, Tufts Medicine, Baystate Health, and Merrimack Health.