Peter D. Banko, President & CEO, Baystate Health

Peter is leading Baystate Health through an exciting new era of healthy growth – in business and in community. As President and CEO, he is uprooting stagnant thinking by leading transformation with both passion and purpose. He teaches, supports, and lifts up those around him, helping them each define and more fully live their missions to impact the world. This has created a connected ecosystem of 13,000 caregivers, who individually and together are now on a mission to redefine health and health care.

Baystate Health is a not-for-profit, integrated health system serving more than 800,000 in western Massachusetts with a service area stretching from Connecticut to Vermont. With roots dating to the founding of Springfield Hospital in 1883 and serving as the first regional campus of UMass Chan Medical School, Baystate’s mission is to deliver compassionate, quality and accessible care – advancing our communities’ health for all.

Prior to joining Baystate Health in June 2024, Peter delivered seventeen years of leadership service with CommonSpirit Health as President & CEO at Centura Health across Colorado, Kansas, and Utah, Senior Vice President of Southeast Operations and national Chief Integration Officer, and President & CEO of CHI St. Vincent in Little Rock, Arkansas. Previous senior leadership roles include CHRISTUS Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi, Texas, PhyAmerica Physician Group in Durham, North Carolina, and Saint Clare’s Health Services in Denville, New Jersey.

Peter has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in health administration from Cornell University. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 33 years and have four children – Daniel (31), Lauren (26), Zachary (25), and Luke (19). The entire family has a strong commitment to promoting human dignity, the common good, and solidarity with the marginalized through community service, philanthropy, and governance.