Edward B. Cloues, II named chair for N.J. health system

Virtua Health, South Jersey’s largest not-for-profit health system, announces the appointment of Edward B. Cloues, II as chair of its Board of Trustees. Cloues’ two-year term began on January 1, 2022; he has served on the Virtua board since 2010.

Virtua also announces two new additions to its board: Dr. Shahram Jay Mirmanesh and Adolfo “Pepe” Piperno.

Edward B. Cloues, II, J.D., served as the chair and chief executive officer of New Jersey-based K-Tron International, Inc., a NASDAQ Global Select Market company, from 1998 until its sale to Hillenbrand, Inc. in 2010. He joined the Hillenbrand Board in connection with that sale and retired as a director in 2021. Prior to his time at K-Tron, Cloues was a senior partner of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a global law firm. He has also served on the boards of several other public companies, and he is currently the chair of AMREP Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed real estate company with significant landholdings in New Mexico and Colorado.

Cloues holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar. Following law school, he clerked for the noted New Jersey jurist Judge James Hunter III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, who maintained chambers in Camden, N.J., and Philadelphia.

“I have served on the Virtua Health Board of Trustees for 12 years,” Cloues said. “In that time, I have witnessed and supported Virtua’s transformation from a respected community health system to a leader in the industry. Now, as an academic health system with a constantly expanding service portfolio, Virtua is positioned to deliver unrivaled care for this generation and those to come.”

David Kindlick, M.B.A., Virtua board member and board chair from 2017 to 2021, said of his successor: “Ed Cloues is a proven leader with incredible instincts and an unwavering commitment to Virtua’s mission and values. His experience leading boards and corporations ensures that Virtua will uphold its brand promise and be of tremendous benefit to the region.”

Shahram Jay Mirmanesh, M.D., M.B.A., who is fondly known as Dr. Jay to his patients, is a board certified pediatrician, pediatric educator, and a specialist in newborn intensive care. He completed his pediatric residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and his neonatology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida.

Dr. Mirmanesh was instrumental in founding the Specialty Care Nursery at Virtua Mount Holly Hospital and later established the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Easton Hospital in Easton, Pa. He then founded the Center for Pediatric and Adult Medicine, which is now Advocare Mirmanesh Pediatric & Adult Medicine with three offices in southern New Jersey. The one-time New Jersey Magazine “Physician of the Year” is also a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Adolfo “Pepe” Piperno grew up in Camden, N.J., and is a steadfast champion of the city and surrounding region. In 1991, he founded the Domenica Foundation (named for his mother) with a focus on improving the quality of life for underserved communities in South Jersey.

Piperno was appointed president of the Sbars in 1985, helping to grow the business to be the largest arts and crafts distributor on the East Coast. In 2011, Piperno purchased A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts and led the company until 2019.

In 2021, Virtua honored Piperno with its annual Humanitarian Award. In addition to supporting Virtua’s community-enriching programs, he is an active philanthropic supporter of Catholic Partnership Schools, Guadalupe Family Services, Cathedral Kitchen, and Joseph’s House of Camden, to name a few.

“Pepe Piperno and Dr. Jay Mirmanesh are notable not only for successful careers, but for their commitment to helping the most vulnerable members of society,” said Dennis W. Pullin, FACHE, president and CEO of Virtua Health. “These are two individuals with a strong sense of social responsibility. That, coupled with their respective experience in industry and medicine, make them valued additions to the Virtua Board of Trustees.”