The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Windemere Nursing board of trustees elected Rebecca Haag as its new chair at a meeting last month.

Formerly the executive director of Island Grown Initiative (IGI), Ms. Haag also previously served as executive director of the Aids Action Committee of Boston and has done work with HIV and AIDS for over a decade. 

When she joined the hospital board in 2021, she wanted to bring IGI and the hospital together to work on promoting health and wellness, not just focusing purely on disease management.  

“I feel like our health care system needs to continue to focus on health and wellness, and that was my particular interest in getting involved, and I have tried to be a voice for that,” Ms. Haag said.  

Expansion of hospital resources is atop Ms. Haag’s long-term vision.

“[It’s important] to continue to focus on expansion of the availability of health and wellness programming and expand on the clinical specialties we can offer here, so that we reduce the need for Islanders to go off Island to get care,” she said.  

Ms. Haag is also looking to spearhead and begin developing a facilities plan to ensure the hospital is effectively using its space.  

“They’ve taken advantage of every square footage there to make sure that we devote it to patient care, but we need to make an investment and we’re working with Mass General Brigham in order to do that and come up with a facilities plan,” she said.  

Housing and taking care of hospital employees is also essential to maintaining a functioning hospital system, according to Ms. Haag. Recently, employees have already begun moving into hospital staff housing at the Navigator Homes complex in Edgartown. 

“We’re the largest employer on the Island, and we want to be not just the largest, but the best and the one that supports our employees,” she said. “Every person at that hospital makes a difference in terms of the patient experience, and we want them to feel cared for.” 

In her new role, Ms. Haag is looking forward to developing continuing relationships with the Island community and its organizations.  

“I just want people to continue to give us feedback on their experience at the hospital and to just continue to have faith in the work that we’re doing and help us continue to expand our work,” she said.  

Combining her passion and experience to continue serving the Island, Ms. Haag is excited for the hospital’s future.  

“If I live on this island, and I use resources on this Island, I have an obligation to give back,” she said.  

With Ms. Haag moving to the chair position, Robert M. Greenglass was elected as a new trustee. He serves on other health care boards and is the founder of Waterline Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on health care.