Our Hospital Leadership
Meet our Hospital Leadership Team
Rob Calhoun, President and Chief Executive Officer
Rob Calhoun, MHA joined West Jefferson Medical Center as the President and CEO in July of 2019. Since arriving at West Jefferson, he has led significant change and improvement to many areas of the organization. Under Rob’s leadership, West Jefferson has experienced significant jumps in physician engagement, reaching the 90th percentile nationally with providers identifying West Jefferson as an Excellent Place to Practice. Employee engagement has improved dramatically as well, with the hospital scoring in the 80th percentile for Overall Workplace satisfaction. Quality and patient safety continues to be a hallmark of West Jefferson Medical Center, as the facility was recently recognized in 2020, 2021 and 2022 with the Healthgrades “Excellence in Patient Safety” Award, which recognizes the top 5% of hospitals nationally in overall patient safety performance.
Prior to joining West Jefferson, Rob was CEO of the 198 bed Merit Health Biloxi in Biloxi, MS, a Community Health Systems (CHS) facility. During his 10-year tenure with CHS, which included stints as ACEO/CEO at four hospitals, his facilities were recognized with several national awards, including Press Gainey’s “Summit Award” and Thomson Reuters “Top 100 Hospital” award.
Originally from the Carolinas, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing at Clemson University in Clemson, SC, and his Master’s degree in Health Administration at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC.
Jay Pennisson, Chief Financial Officer
Jay joins us as an accomplished healthcare executive with more than 20
years of experience in financial oversight of healthcare systems and facilities
across the country. He most recently served as Group Chief Financial Officer
for Brookwood Baptist Health System and Chief Financial Officer of Brookwood
Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. In his previous roles,
Jay was responsible for leading strategic financial planning and implementing
revenue cycle related initiatives to improve the financial performance
of multiple organizations. Jay earned his Master of Business Administration
from Tulane University, A. B. Freeman School of Business and a Bachelor
of Science degree in Accounting from Louisiana State University. He is
an active member of Healthcare Financial Management Association and is
a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional honored by the Healthcare
Financial Management Association.
Robert Chugden, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Chugden ensures patients receive the highest quality treatment possible by hiring, evaluating and training new physicians. He works closely with physicians, nurses and staff to create and enforce clinical guidelines that help make the Medical Center’s healthcare delivery run smoothly, and he acts as a liaison between the medical staff and the hospital’s executives. For more than 30 years, Dr. Chudgen, board-certified in emergency medicine, has served as an ER physician for West Jefferson Medical Center and as the ER’s Medical Director for 18 years. In addition, he has held various positions with the hospital’s medical committees. Prior to joining West Jefferson, Dr. Chugden was an ER physician at Charity Hospital, St. Jude Medical Center and Hotel Dieu Hospital. He also served as clinical assistant professor of medicine at LSU School of Medicine. Dr. Chugden received his medical degree from LSU and completed his general surgeon residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Monica Bologna, Chief Nursing Officer
As Chief Nursing Officer, Monica Bologna’s primary role consists of providing strategic and operational leadership to the Nursing Department, while assisting the Medical Center to maintain and advance cost-effective quality care and patient satisfaction. Prior to being promoted to this position, Monica was the Vice President of Inpatient and Outpatient Medical Surgical Services for West Jefferson Medical Center. She has been part of the West Jefferson family for nearly a decade. A registered nurse for 20 years, Monica has a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from William Carey College and her Master’s in Heath Systems Administration from Loyola University. She resides on the West Bank and since 2008 has served in various nursing leadership roles at West Jefferson. Monica’s background includes critical care in the area of cardiac services and cardiothoracic surgery. For several years, Monica has been part of the Medical Center’s senior leadership and has worked closely with staff and members of the medical staff across the organization.
Dean Roy, Vice President of Physician Services
As Vice President of Physician Services, Dean Roy’s primary role consists of providing strategic and operational leadership to the Physician Clinics, while working with the rest of the executive team to develop partnerships to further the mission of the hospital. Prior to being promoted to this position, Dean led several areas of the organization including Decision Support, Marketing and several outpatient departments. He has been part of the West Jefferson family for over 7 years. While a native of Belle Chasse, Dean received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and his Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on Healthcare Leadership from Yale University. Dean resides in the Lakeview neighborhood with his wife and three children – all born at West Jefferson Medical Center.
Darlene Gondrella, VP of Quality
Darlene, CPHQ has over 26 years of nursing experience and has spent the last 10 years over Quality, Risk Management and Infection Prevention. Over the course of her 20-year career at West Jefferson Medical Center, she has managed departments such as Case Management, Guest Services and Patient Experience, and Nurse Education. She loves her work family and was honored to be chosen as a New Orleans CityBusiness Healthcare Hero in 2006. Darlene received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from LSU School of Nursing and is a Certified Case Manager, and Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality. Darlene lives with her wonderful husband and son, who was born at West Jefferson.
West Jefferson Medical Center Medical Staff Leadership:
- Wesley Bryan, MD, Chief of Staff
- Scott Zainey, MD, Vice Chief of Staff
- Truitt Balart, MD, Member-at-Large
- Gregory Bordelon, MD, Member-at-Large
- Jonathan Boraski, MD, Chairman, Department of Surgery
- Barton Wax, MD, Vice-Chair, Department of Surgery
- Gregory Gillen, MD, Chairman, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology
- Stacy Clasen, MD, Vice-Chair, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology
- Carlos Trujillo, MD, Chairman, Department of Pediatrics
- Lindsay York, MD, Vice-Chair, Department of Pediatrics
- Nihar Mathur, MD, Chairman, Department of Medicine
- Falguni Patel, MD, Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine