MATTAPOISETT – A Mattapoisett resident was named to the most senior physician leadership position within Southcoast Health.

The local healthcare provider announced Jan. 17 that Dennis LaRock, who has lived in Mattapoisett since 1998, accepted the roles of executive vice president and chief physician officer.

Originally from Long Island, LaRock attended Boston University for undergraduate and medical school, then trained at Tufts New England Medical Center and worked at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center prior to joining Southcoast Health.

As a Mattapoisett resident practicing medicine in the South Coast, LaRock said the people he works with and the patients he treats are fellow members of a small, close community – neighbors, colleagues, friends – something unlike his experience practicing in Boston.

“It's very, very different, and it's very exciting,” LaRock, a urologist, said. “It's actually a much, much higher bar because you have to be able to be proud of what you do and be able to translate that to everybody around you. So if things don't go well, you hear about it. If things go well, you do hear about it.”

LaRock’s new role as chief physician officer, effective March 1, is to ensure “the highest levels of quality clinical care throughout the system,” a Southcoast Health press release said.

LaRock has also previously worked as a bartender, a work background that is “very helpful and very applicable” to the healthcare field in terms of being able to talk, interact and relate to other people.

“What I remind people in our office in particular – people will come in – they're stressed,” LaRock said. “They're harried. They're tired. They're sick. We don’t see them at their best, but we want to try and help them out.”

Most recently serving as the co-chief of urology and chief of robotic surgery, LaRock was the first to conduct robotic surgery at Southcoast Health when he did so in 2008. He will continue to see patients in Fall River and Fairhaven within his new role, according to Southcoast Health.

LaRock said he and his wife realized “how special the area was” when they first moved to Mattapoisett from Quincy.

“We just embraced it, and it’s fantastic,” he said. “I like telling all my friends on Long Island that we wound up in the best place in the world.”