ST. LOUIS (Oct. 3, 2005) SSM Health Care - St. Louis announced today that Sherlyn A. Hailstone has been named president of SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. Hailstone, who will also oversee SSM St. Joseph Medical Park, is currently executive vice president/chief executive officer of Saint Francis Hospital, a 405-bed community teaching hospital in Evanston, Ill. that is a member of the Resurrection Healthcare System. She will begin her duties at St. Joseph Health Center on Nov. 28.

Hailstone, 53, will be the first president of St. Joseph Health Center since the mid-1980s. Previously, both St. Joseph Health Center and SSM St. Joseph Hospital West, Lake Saint Louis, were operated under a single management structure. SSMHC-St. Louis announced in April that the two hospitals would begin operating under separate management structures, and that a nationwide search for presidents of both facilities was underway. Paul Convery, M.D., executive vice president/chief medical officer of SSM Health Care-St. Louis, has served as interim president of St. Joseph Health Center and St. Joseph Hospital West. On Sept. 29, SSMHC-St. Louis named Patrice L. Komoroski, Ph.D., as the new president of St. Joseph Hospital West.

“Sherlyn brings to St. Joseph Health Center a breadth of experience in hospital and home care administration, operations, product line management, physician relations and nursing leadership,” said Mike Graue, executive vice president – network operations for SSMHC-St. Louis.

Hailstone’s health care career began in 1980 with Barnes-Jewish Hospital. When she left there in 1996, Hailstone was vice president for medicine/psychiatry and chief nurse executive. Hailstone then joined Bromenn Healthcare in Bloomington, Ill., as chief operating officer. There, she was responsible for operations of a 250-bed acute care hospital and a 50-bed rural hospital. Hailstone moved to Saint Francis Hospital as chief executive officer in 2001 where her leadership skills were instrumental in significantly improving operating margin and patient satisfaction. Her responsibilities also included implementing an $18 million facility improvement plan that included the construction of a new obstetrics unit, heart center and emergency department.

Hailstone holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in cardiopulmonary nursing, both from Saint Louis University.

About SSM Health Care
With 7 hospitals, nearly 2,000 staff physicians and 8,600 employees, SSM Health Care-St. Louis (www.ssmhealth.com) is committed to serving the comprehensive health needs of St. Louis area residents.  Sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, SSMHC-St. Louis includes SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, SSM DePaul Health Center, SSM St. Joseph Health Center, SSM St. Joseph Hospital West, SSM St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood, SSM St. Mary's Health Center and SSM Rehab, plus three medical groups: SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group, SSM Medical Group and SSM DePaul Medical Group. Its parent organization, SSM Health Care, also based in St. Louis, in 2002 became the first health care recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The system owns, operates and manages hospitals and nursing homes in four states: Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

 
Sherlyn Hailstone Photo