ST. LOUIS - Jim Sanger, president/CEO of SSM Health Care-St. Louis and regional president/system vice president for SSM Health Care, will retire at the end of this year, after more than 14 years of service to SSM Health Care.
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Sanger, 67, began his work with SSM in 1997 as President and CEO of St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Inc., the joint venture between SSM Health Care and the Chicago-based Felician Health Services, in Southern Illinois. Under Sanger’s leadership, the joint venture grew and flourished in a challenging environment.
In November 2007, Sanger was named President and CEO of SSM Health Care-St. Louis, where he led a reorganization that redefined seven St. Louis hospitals as one organization with a variety of service lines.
“Jim’s leadership as president and CEO of SSM-St. Louis led to all-time high scores in employee satisfaction, significant financial improvement, improved physician satisfaction, and improved clinical results,” said SSM Health Care President/COO Bill Thompson.
SSM-St. Louis has garnered several awards under Sanger’s leadership. In November 2010, SSM-St. Louis was chosen as a recipient of the Missouri Quality Award (MQA), one of the strongest state-level quality award programs in the country. Also in 2010, five hospitals within the SSM Health Care-St. Louis network were named Premier QUEST High Performing Hospitals. In 2010 and 2011 SSM-St. Louis was awarded the “Best Places to Work” award sponsored by the St. Louis Business Journal. And this year, Sanger will be honored with the Missouri Hospital Association’s Visionary Leadership Award.
“We congratulate Jim as he moves to this next phase of his life,” said Thompson. “His contributions to our organization have truly been exceptional.”
SSM Health Care will initiate a process to name a successor that is expected to be in place later this year. The successor will work with Sanger to ensure a smooth transition.
For media inquiries, contact:
Chris Sutton
Corporate Communications Manager
SSM Health Care
314-994-7886 (office)
314-323-5563 (cell)
Chris_Sutton@ssmhc.com