Crista Durand in March was appointed president and CEO of New Britain’s Hospital for Special Care.
Founded in 1941, Hospital for Special Care is an independent, not-for-profit healthcare facility. With 246 beds, it’s the fourth-largest long-term care hospital among the 330 that operate in the U.S., and is one of just two nationwide that provides long-term acute care for children.
HFSC also is one of just three long-term, acute-care hospitals in the state; the others are Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford and the new Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Danbury, which opened in September.
Durand was born and raised in Putnam. She came to HFSC from Newport Hospital in Rhode Island, where she served as CEO for 10 years.
Before that, she was vice president of strategic planning, marketing and business development at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London.
She has a bachelor’s degree in finance and financial management services from Salve Regina University and an MBA from Nicholls College.
HFSC, which has facilities in New Britain and Hartford, has a staff of about 1,300 that cares for patients that range in age from infants to the elderly.