PHOTO / COURTESY NORTHERN LIGHT HEALTH
Guy Hudson was appointed Northern Light Health’s next president and CEO after a national search.
July 29, 2025
Northern Light’s new CEO has record of financial turnarounds
Following a national search, the Northern Light Health board of directors selected Guy Hudson as the next president and CEO of Maine’s second-largest health care system.
The appointment come as Northern Light, like hospitals across Maine and the U.S., braces for financial strain from reduced federal Medicaid funding.
John Ryan, Northern Light Health’s board chair, said Hudson is the ideal pick to lead the system “during these uniquely challenging times.”
Ryan added, “He has a proven record of leading financial turnarounds in hospital systems, balancing the need for financial discipline with providing world-class health care to the community.”
Rural care
Hudson will start in his new role in mid-October, succeeding Tim Dentry, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Hudson, a pediatric urologic surgeon and physician executive, previously served as CEO of Swedish Health System, a multi-campus health system headquartered in Seattle, Wash., for six years. He also took on a chief executive role at Providence, a not-for-profit health system also based in Washington, where he led operations in the system’s north division, including Puget Sound and Alaska, for two years.
Like Northern Light Health, Providence’s north division includes a mix of secular and Catholic facilities, cares for rural communities and includes several critical access hospitals, according to a news release.
As a pediatric urologic surgeon, Hudson was named a “Top Doctor” by Seattle Met and Oregon's Portland Monthly and has received the "Patient’s Choice Award for Compassionate Doctor."
“Northern Light Health’s unwavering commitment to rural health care and to the well-being of the communities it serves deeply resonates with me,” Hudson said. “Having grown up in a rural area, I understand the critical importance of ensuring access to high-quality care close to home.”
Search
Northern Light’s search for a new leader began in March when Dentry announced that he would retire.
The search committee was presented with a number of strong and experienced candidates, said Julie Dawson Williams, the board vice chair and chair of the CEO Search Committee.
“In getting to know Dr. Hudson through this process, he clearly and meticulously outlined his vision for advancing Northern Light Health,” Williams said.
Headwinds
Dentry will stay on as CEO until Hudson’s arrival this October. During his five-year tenure,
PHOTO / COURTESY NORTHERN LIGHT HEALTH
Timothy Dentry, president and CEO of Northern Light Health since April 2020, plans to retire in October.
Dentry orchestrated large-scale community access to COVID-19 vaccinations and resources, rebuilt two critical access hospitals, improved inpatient access for pediatric behavioral health, launched a psychiatric residency program and expanded birthing services in Hancock County.
More recently, Northern Light has been facing financial headwinds that include the closure in May of Northern Light Inland Hospital and associated service in Waterville amid monthly operating losses of $1 million to $1.5 million.
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