FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Barb Meyer
Executive Director - Corporate Communications
Sisters of Mercy Health System www.mercy.net
v: 314.628-3633
f: 314.628-3734
e: bmeyer@corp.mercy.net
Swope to Return to St. John's Health System in Springfield
FORT SCOTT, KS (August 15, 2006) – Jon Swope, president and chief executive officer of Mercy Health System of Kansas, will leave that position later this fall to become president of the hospital division of St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Missouri. Swope transferred to Mercy Health System of Kansas in March of 2005 from St. John’s, where he had served as senior vice president and chief operating officer.
“The opportunity for Jon to return to Springfield after a relatively short time in Kansas was made possible due to the upcoming retirement of Rob Brodhead, current president of St. John’s Hospital,” said John Sullivan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Sisters of Mercy Health System, which sponsors Mercy Health System of Kansas and St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. “Jon’s decision was also influenced by family considerations, and we respect and support his desire to return to Springfield.”
Search activities are underway with the hope of establishing a new CEO in Kansas prior to Swope’s departure, which is tentatively planned for sometime in October or November.
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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 18 acute care hospitals providing more than 4,000 licensed beds, a heart hospital, 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 26,000 co-workers and 3,100 physicians who are employed or practice at Mercy facilities. Mercy is the ninth largest Catholic healthcare system in the United States based on net patient service revenue and is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy–St. Louis Regional Community.
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