Michael P Hughes

Mike is the Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations and Government Affairs at Kaleida Health, Western New York’s largest employer and largest provider of health care services. Recruited to Kaleida Health in 2004, he is responsible for all of the hospital system’s external affairs including marketing, advertising, media relations, government affairs and creative services. Active in the community, he was appointed in 2008 to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), becoming the youngest Commissioner in the history of the authority’s history. Hughes currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Waterfront Nursing Home, Bishop Timon/St. Jude High School and the West Seneca Zoning Board of Appeals. He also serves on the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Government Affairs Committee (co-chair), Canisius College Government Relations Advisory Board and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Government Affairs Council. Hughes also coaches T-Ball, soccer and ice hockey. Prior to joining Kaleida Health, Mike served as the Public Affairs and Marketing Manager for Rural/Metro Medical Services, a national ambulance company. Hughes oversaw all media, government and community relations, marketing, and contract compliance in Western New York. He also served as the public information officer for Rural/Metro’s nationally recognized “Disaster Response Team.” Prior to joining Rural/Metro, Mike served as the Director of Communications under Erie County Executive Dennis T. Gorski. In that role, he was the primary spokesman for New York State’s second largest county government and its highest elected official. With Erie County, Mike was elevated through numerous positions: from volunteer assistant in legislative branch, to executive public affairs assistant to final senior communications role A graduate of Canisius College with a bachelor’s degree in communication, Hughes also earned a master’s of business administration certificate (micro-MBA) from the University of Buffalo. He is a graduate of Leadership Buffalo and the Buffalo FBI’s 2003 Citizen’s Academy. In 2005, Mike was named a Business First “40 Under 40” award winner. He has also won multiple awards from International MarCom and the WNY Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.