Still Learning

_{Michael Rose ’89, CEO of Southern New Hampshire Health System, with his wife, Shannon Rose ’90, and their three children.}

It’s more than a job to Michael Rose ’89— it’s a mission of service. That is how the recently named CEO of Southern New Hampshire Health System describes his work.

“I have spent the majority of my career in nonprofit health care with a mission of serving the community,” said Rose, who took command of the integrated health system in July of this year. “That mission has always been a major motivation. It’s what drives me in my career.”

After leaving Longwood 27 years ago with a degree in accounting, Rose went to work as an auditor for the commonwealth of Virginia. It was there, while working on audits of the VCU Health System and the state’s Medicaid program, that he discovered a passion for health care.

“A hospital is like 100 separate lines of business—all heavily regulated,” he said. “It’s a never-ending learning opportunity, so complicated and varied; you’re never going to get bored because you will never know everything.”

Rose may not know everything, but he definitely knows something. He has worked his way up from an auditor to leadership positions in health care systems in Virginia and New Jersey, earning an MBA along the way. He started work in New Hampshire as CFO about a decade ago and today runs the system that includes a 188-bed, state-of-the-art hospital and a physicians group with 300 providers. His memories of Longwood are more than academic. While both he and his wife are natives of Hampton, Virginia, they didn’t meet until he was a freshman at Longwood. She would follow him to Farmville a year later. Rose was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon while his future wife, Shannon Christensen, a member of the Class of 1990, was a Kappa Delta.

“My four years at Longwood were a tremendous learning experience academically and socially,” he said. “Shannon and I still maintain close connections with dozens of friends we made there.”

Shannon Rose went on to earn a master’s degree and serves as a social worker in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her husband says the mission of service and citizen leadership emphasized at Longwood applies as much, if not more, to her.

“I’m in the background making sure our front line of health care workers have what they need to take care of patients,” he said. “Shannon is on the front lines every day helping people cope with life-altering crises.”

After more than a decade, the Roses seem to have settled well into life in New Hampshire. The couple’s three children are very active. Allison is a high-school junior and cheerleader. Taylor, a senior, plays hockey and snowboards. The oldest, Mitchell, is an all-state wrestler studying business in college. When the weather turns cold they all hit the slopes together.

“Everyone in the family either skis or snowboards,” said Mike Rose. “Living up here, if you don’t find a way to get out and play in the snow, it becomes a very long winter.”