“On behalf of the board of trustees, I am pleased to welcome Rich Kroes and Dr. Esper to our board. Both bring strong commitments to the people of the Tri-Lakes region,” Adirondack Health Board of Trustees Chairman J. Timothy Reilly said in a press release.

“Dr. Esper’s more than four decades of medical expertise and deep understanding of emergency medicine provides invaluable clinical insight and perspective. Rich’s many years of leadership with a large multi-national organization and long-established local business, along with his service on other local boards, adds strategic and governance experience, judgement and dedication guiding our organization into the future.”

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Kroes

Rich Kroes (Provided photo)

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Kroes has a background in technology and sustainability, having spent 22 years as a global leader with Oracle Corporation before retiring in 2022. He earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in aeronautics and astronautics. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the Rotterdam School of Management.

He has served on several local boards, including as a trustee and chairman of the Adirondack Community Foundation from 2011 to 2022 and as a youth coach and board member for the Lake Placid Youth Athletic Association from 2005 to 2015.

Kroes originally hails from The Netherlands. He and his wife, Katrina, have three children whom they raised in Lake Placid.

“It’s a pretty unique situation we have in the Adirondacks,” Kroes said in a press release. “There are amazing people in our region, but also a number of unique challenges. To give back by volunteering is a really great way to strengthen our communities.”

Kroes said Adirondack Health is an important institution because of the medical care it provides, but also as one of the largest employers here in the region. Its employees are a key part of the fabric of the community.

“Dr. Claude Roland spoke really eloquently at the Gala last summer about what it means to be a physician or a nurse providing care here,” he said. “It’s just different when you go to a hockey game or the grocery store and see your patients. You’re just fully embedded in the community. It’s really special.”

Kroes said he looks forward to applying his experience in technology, marketing and strategic planning to help support the organization’s needs and help aid the staff to sustain its mission.

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Esper

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Esper brings more than 40 years of medical expertise to Adirondack Health, having served as an emergency physician at Adirondack Medical Center from 1997 to 2005 and 2016 to the present.

As Adirondack Health’s new medical staff president, Esper is an ex-officio member of the board of trustees.

He received his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in 1983, is a certified specialist by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is on the university’s clinical faculty, helping train medical students at Adirondack Medical Center. He said the clinical experience he garnered while in his fourth-year rotation as a medical student at AMC was so valuable that it made him want to return to work here and continue training student physicians and physician assistants at this hospital through his alma mater’s rural health program.

“Our environment is very conducive to an excellent learning experience,” he said.

Esper has also worked in primary care, serving patients in the Long Lake area from 1983 to 1987. His primary care background afforded him the opportunity to provide home and office care to patients.

He found he missed the hospital setting and returned to emergency medicine, serving as an emergency physician at various hospitals throughout the North Country, including in Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Albany and his hometown of Gloversville. He has also worked in the inpatient setting, assisting Adirondack Medical Center’s hospitalist program.

“Of all the places that I’ve worked, I am most impressed by what we accomplish here at Adirondack Health,” Esper said in a press release. “It’s the quality of care, the comprehensiveness of our services, the compassionate manner in which we relate to patients and our availability to people, which is quite remarkable.”

He served as Adirondack Health’s director of emergency medicine for four years and has chaired three of the hospital’s committees: pharmacy and therapeutics, antibiotics stewardship and infection control.

In 2026, he stepped up as the medical staff president and said he’s honored to help support the well-being of the talented medical staff and organization.

“As the medical staff president, it requires a close working relationship with my fellow colleagues, our esteemed board of trustees and our dedicated Administration,” Esper said. “It’s an opportunity to weigh in and affect the positive course of the future for our organization.”

He and his wife, Kelly, live in Lake Placid and enjoy spending time outdoors with their 11 children and 14 grandchildren.

The 2026 Adirondack Health Board of Trustees officers are Chair J. Timothy Reilly, Vice Chair Dr. Michael Bettmann, Treasurer Craig Sheldon and Secretary Kathy Woughter.