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Sisters of Mercy Health System Names Medical Directors

St. Louis (October 7, 2009) – The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) has named Sam Crow, DO, Stuart Schrader, DO, and Chris Veremakis, MD, as medical directors for Mercy’s Center for Innovative Care. They join Tom Hale, MD, who previously was announced as a medical director for the Center. These four physicians will work together, along with Mercy’s leadership and the physician community, to advance Mercy’s plans for transforming how we deliver care and respond to the health needs of our communities.

Sam Crow, DO, is a family medicine physician at St. John’s Clinic in Springfield, Mo., a role he has held since 1992. He served as chairman of St. John’s Family Medicine Department for six years, and previously was medical director for the medical informatics team at St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Mo.  He will continue to practice medicine part-time while serving at the Center. 

Chris Veremakis, MD, is medical director for SafeWatch, Mercy’s remote electronic intensive care unit monitoring program and is board certified in internal medicine and critical care. He is located at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, where he has served as chairman of critical care medicine for the past 25 years and chairman of graduate medical education for the last 15 years. Dr. Veremakis will continue to serve as medical director for Mercy SafeWatch in addition to his new role at the Center.

Stuart Schrader, DO, is a board certified internal medicine/pediatrics physician who practices as part of Mercy Health Network of Oklahoma. He also serves as chair of the quality and safety committees for Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City and Mercy Health Network. Dr. Schrader will continue to practice medicine part-time and serve on the quality and safety committees of both organizations while taking on the new role of medical director for the Center.

“I am pleased to have these four physicians on board at the Center for Innovative Care,” said Lynn Britton, Mercy President and CEO. “Collectively, they bring to their work a broad range of clinical experience and expertise in serving diverse patient populations, which will be crucial as we seek new and better ways to deliver care that meets the varied needs of our patients.”

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About Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) operates hospitals, physician practices, outpatient clinics, health plans and related health and human services in a seven-state area including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Its members include 19 acute care hospitals providing more than 4,000 licensed beds, two heart hospitals, a managed care subsidiary (Mercy Health Plans), physician practices, outpatient care facilities, home health programs, skilled nursing services and long-term care facilities. Services are provided by approximately 31,000 co-workers and 4,600 physicians who are employed or practice at Mercy facilities. Mercy is the 8th largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. based on net patient service revenue. It is sponsored by Mercy Health Ministry, an entity established by the Catholic Church to oversee the healing ministry and Catholic identity of Mercy. For more information, visit www.mercy.net.    

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