Board chairman John Makel on cutting services versus diversification. Interview by Karen Gardner.

John Makel, chairman of the board of the Memorial Health Alliance of Mount Holly, NJ, and vice-president and regional trust office manager, First Fidelity Bank, NA-New Jersey, Moorestown, began his tenure on the board of the Memorial Hospital of Burlington County, NJ, in 1975. He has been chairman of the alliance since 1983. Makel has been involved in diversification and divestment decisions since 1979, when the alliance was formed. It now includes a 402-bed acute care hospital--the Memorial Hospital of Burlington County--a 120-bed long-term care facility, and a home health care agency that makes approximately 70,000 home care visits a year The alliance's 30-member board, under the active leadership of a 13-member executive committee, governs each of the three affiliates. Recently, Trustee managing editor Karen Gardner talked with Makel to learn how the board has approached the difficult decisions involved in cutting services versus diversification.