President of Mercy Hospital to Chair D’Youville Board of Trustees

President of Mercy Hospital to Chair D’Youville Board of Trustees

Four New Members Named to Board

Buffalo, New York – June 15, 2017 – The D’Youville College Board of Trustees named Charles J. (CJ) Urlaub, president and CEO of Mercy Hospital, chairman of the board, effective this past May.

He replaces John P. Amershadian, senior counsel at Hodgson Russ, as board chair. Amershadian served as the firm’s president and CEO from February 1, 2012 through January 31, 2016.

Urlaub was appointed to membership on the D’Youville board in 2012. He served as a member of the Academic Affairs Committee (2012-17) and as chair of the committee from 2014-17. He was named vice chair of the board in 2015.

“I am confident that CJ Urlaub is exceptionally well qualified to support our new president’s efforts to move D’Youville College forward to an even better future,” Amershadian said.

Urlaub has led Mercy Hospital, a South Buffalo institution, since 2007, developing innovative programs and establishing a physician-led capital allocation process. The hospital was the first in the region to build hybrid operation rooms and to establish a robotics program.

Under his leadership, Mercy Hospital has been designated as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission and has received service excellence awards from Healthgrades and Gold Plus Achievement Awards from the American Heart Association in a variety of healthcare services.

Prior to joining the hospital, he was the chief administrative officer at Mercy Health Care Partners in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Interim President at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Warren, Ohio.

Urlaub has also held positions with Kaleida Health in Buffalo where he served as vice president of strategic services and quality, vice president of process improvement, vice president for quality at Buffalo General Health System and assistant vice president of operations.

New board members include:

Joseph J. Cozzo, president and CEO of Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center; Megan O’Shea Farrell, M.D., associate medical director of the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care; J. Efrain Martinez, principal of the Charter School for Applied Technologies and president of Efficient Schools Team; and Dolores M. Prezyna, retired principal of Blasdell Elementary School and clinical supervisor of Student Teaching at the State University at Fredonia.

Cozzo chairs the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York and is a state-licensed mental health counselor and nationally certified trauma counselor. He is a member of the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus Board of Directors and a founding member and president of the West Buffalo Charter School Board.

He is a graduate of Niagara University and received a master’s degree from the University of LaVerne in California and a master’s degree from Canisius College.

Dr. Megan O’Shea Farrell is the medical director at St. John Baptist/Hospice Buffalo House and an attending physician for the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. She is also a clinical instructor at the State University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She is a graduate of D’Youville College and earned her medical degree from the University at Buffalo.

J. Efrain Martinez has been the principal of Charter School for Applied Technologies since 2003 and was named executive principal/superintendent in 2008. Previously he was principal of Holyoke Community Charter School in Springfield, Massachusetts for 12 years. A graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, he received his master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Dolores M. Prezyna, also a D’Youville graduate, earned her master’s degree from the University at Buffalo where she did post-master’s studies and received her doctorate from D’Youville College. She served as an adjunct instructor for Literacy Education at Medaille College in Buffalo.

D’Youville was chartered in 1908 and today enrolls approximately 2900 students in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral program.

A self-perpetuating 26-member board of trustees has governed the College since 1970.

Contact

Dr. Lorrie A. Clemo, President of D’Youville College

Phone: 716-829-7673

Email: clemo@dyc.edu