Even though he is a lifelong resident of northwest Pennsylvania, Brian Durniok is enjoying his new surroundings in Western New York.

Durniok is the new interim president at UPMC Chautauqua, a position he officially filled when former president and CEO Betsy T. Wright retired after 29 years working at the Jamestown hospital, the last 20 as the hospital’s leader.

“I was familiar with the area and I like the community setting,” Durniok said about the greater Jamestown area. “I’m spending a lot of time meeting with local collaborates, community partners and county officials. It has been very welcoming and interesting.”

Durniok officially started his new role for UPMC Jan. 1 when he became UPMC Chautauqua’s interim president. Informally, though, he started working at the city hospital in December learning about his new role from Wright.

“I used her help and expertise to help with the transition,” he said.

Durniok had been the president of UPMC Northwest located in Seneca, Pa., which is about 60 miles south of Jamestown. Now at UPMC Chautauqua, he has a couple of initiatives and goals he would like to accomplish this spring. One is a new electronic health records known as the Pulse system, which is an intuitive program designed with workflow in mind.

“That is a big endeavor to change a major application,” he said. “We’re educating the staff now.”

UPMC Chautauqua officials are also working on enhancing the patient experience, Durniok said.

“The entire organization is dedicated to the best care and services we can provide,” he said. “Our efforts to enhance is for the community’s benefit.”

When Durniok’s begain as the hospital’s president, several ongoing construction projects had already started. One of the projects is the $20 million two-level addition create a women’s and maternity care center and inpatient adolescent and adult mental health units. Another project is the 20-bed, long-term residential addiction services program facility being constructed at UPMC Chautauqua’s Jones Memorial Health Center.

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Both of these projects are on schedule to open late spring or early summer.

“There is no shortage of things going on,” he said.

As far as Durniok’s classification as interim president of UPMC Chautauqua, he doesn’t know what the future will hold for him as possibly being the permanent leader of the city’s hospital. He said, so far, he has enjoyed his time at the hospital, getting to know the employees and the board of directors.

“I will certainly do whatever is asked of me by UPMC,” he said. “I’m very honored to have the opportunity to work at UPMC Chautauqua. It’s a great asset for the community.”

Durniok has more than 23 years of experience in the human resources field, most of which was within the health care system. In 1995, he joined UPMC Horizon as director of human resources. In 2007, he was appointed vice president of human resources. He was named vice president of human resources for UPMC Hamot and its affiliates in 2013, assuming both human resources and operations responsibilities at UPMC Northwest in 2014. He was appointed president of UPMC Northwest in February 2017.

Durniok graduated from Thiel College in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in business. He received a master’s degree in business administration from Baker College in 2001.