NEWPORT, R.I. – August ‘Gus’ Cordeiro, the lifelong Aquidneck Island resident who began his career at Newport Hospital at age 16 as a dishwasher and who now serves as the hospital’s president and chief executive officer, is the recipient of Salve Regina University’s Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award.
Cordeiro, a member of the senior executive team at Lifespan Healthcare System since 2009, was recognized with this honor during the university’s Fall Festival Weekend celebration. He earned a master’s degree in health care administration from Salve Regina in 1991.
Cordeiro is president and chief executive officer of the Newport Health Care Corporation and of each of its four subsidiary corporations including Newport Hospital, the Newport Hospital Foundation, NHCC Medical Associates, and Newport Health Property Management.
“Earning my graduate degree in the field assisted me to understand the specialized academic and theoretical basis for good business practices in healthcare,” Cordeiro said. “I firmly believe that attaining my graduate degree after some experience was a very effective means to increase my professional competencies.”
With his board certification in health care administration, Cordeiro is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, where he recently concluded a three-year term as the elected Rhode Island regent and served on the board of directors of its Rhode Island chapter.
Also vice chairman of the board of directors of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, Cordeiro is a member of the board of directors of the Star Kids scholarship program, a member of RIH Ventures, Inc., and a member of the advisory committee of the Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund.
A member of St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Cordeiro serves as a lector and member of the stewardship committee. He is a former member of Newport’s Broadway Improvement Group and the Women’s Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties.