Sister Rosemary Moynihan, vice president of Mission Integration; Nadine Brechner, chief development officer and vice president of the Trinitas Health Foundation; Mayor J. Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth; Vic Richel, chairperson of the board of trustees for Trinitas Health and Trinitas Regional Medical Center, as well as chairperson of the board of trustees of Union County College; Gary Horan, president/chief executive officer of Trinitas Health and Regional Medical Center; Sister Maureen Shaughnessy, general superior of Sisters of Charity; and Sue Marchelitis, educator training specialist at Trinitas, attend the announcement of the naming of the new Victor M. Richel Conference Center at Trinitas Regional Medical Center.
ELIZABETH, NJ — The Victor M. Richel Conference Center at Trinitas Regional Medical Center is a new, 253-person–capacity education/conference facility named after the medical center’s long-time chairperson and benefactor.
“Vic Richel is a recognized leader who has given his talents and treasure to Trinitas and the Elizabeth hospitals that came before it,” explained Gary S. Horan, American College of Healthcare Executives fellow, and president and chief executive officer of Trinitas Regional Medical Center.
Richel’s work as a voluntary hospital leader began in the 1970s, when he became a trustee, and later, chairperson of the Alexian Brothers Hospital. Following the acquisition of the Alexian Brothers Hospital by Elizabeth General Medical Center in 1990, Richel joined that board and served on the finance committee.
A decade later, Elizabeth General and St. Elizabeth Hospital entered merger discussions that led to the birth of Trinitas. “Vic was a central figure in each of the transactions that led to the eventual formation of Trinitas,” said Horan. “To no one’s surprise, he joined the Trinitas Board and became chairperson in 2006. He has alternated serving as chairperson and vice chairperson every two years thereafter.”
Richel is currently the chairperson of the board’s affiliations committee, which is working on the merger of Trinitas and Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health.
“It is most fitting that we name this new facility after Trinitas’ biggest cheerleader,” Horan said.
N.J. Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick prepared a legislative resolution.
Dozens of friends, colleagues and family members, some via Zoom, attended, including Richel’s daughter, Sue Marchelitis, the educator training specialist at Trinitas.