First chief patient experience officer at St. Mary’s has local roots

LEWISTON — René Dumont, former vice president of strategic growth, has been appointed to serve as St. Mary’s Health System’s first chief patient experience officer.
Following more than 20 years in various leadership roles at St. Mary’s and Covenant Health, Dumont has been chosen to lead efforts to improve the experience St. Mary’s provides patients and their family members. In this role, he will also oversee the recently founded

Albert Lepage Center for Patient Experience, which promotes innovation and improvement across the organization through research, best practice development and implementation, innovation grants and more.
“Ensuring every patient we serve receives an exceptional experience is personal to me. I was born at St. Mary’s, and my family and I have trusted St. Mary’s for our care for as long as I can remember,” said Dumont. “I am honored and excited to work alongside our talented and compassionate team of employees and providers — and our patients and their family members — to make the care and experience we provide the very best it can be.”
In his previous role, Dumont has significant experience in assessing performance, developing and deploying strategy and leading improvement efforts. Dumont earned his master of business administration from Boston University. He is a member of and past chairman of the Androscoggin County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation.
“We created this position because we believe the experience we provide directly impacts healing. Patients should feel cared for and cared about,” said Steve Jorgenson, president of St. Mary’s Health System. “René’s significant experience, ability to collaborate and build strong connections, combined with his life-long relationship with St. Mary’s and the community made him the perfect person to take on this new senior leadership role which is solely focused on the experience we provide.”
Dumont will advance the work of the Albert Lepage Center for Patient Experience, established through a $10 million grant from Lepage in 2017. He will work with a community-led team of advisors to advance innovation and improve both the patient and caregiver experience. “We know René well as he’s been a part of this community for many years,” said Regis Lepage, a member of the Lepage Patient Experience Advisory Council. “He brings tremendous experience and expertise to this role, and he shares my brother’s passion and commitment to making healthcare better for people in our community.”