SSM Health Care Leadership Changes Ahead

Next week, when Sister Mary Jean Ryan hands the reins of SSM Health Care over to William P. Thompson, president/chief operating officer, it will mark the end of one era and the beginning of another.

As SSM’s first and only president/CEO in the system’s 25-year history, Sister Mary Jean has led the not-for-profit system through its fledgling first years to emerge as a leader in quality health care.

Under Sister Mary Jean’s leadership, SSM has earned an international reputation as a pioneer in the use of quality measures to improve health care.

Sister Mary Jean’s departure also means Catholic health care is losing one of the last remaining Sister CEOs. It’s a trend across the country—with the shortage of nuns in this country, sisters are increasingly preparing laity to take over leadership.

When the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, Sister Mary Jean’s order, merged its hospitals into one system in 1986, it tapped Sister Mary Jean to head it. She drew on her years of experience as a nurse and hospital administrator to forge over the years SSM’s reputation for quality care.

SSM Health Care owns 15 hospitals and two nursing homes in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. SSM has 6,500 employed/affiliated physicians and 23,000 employees. 

“We’ve really become, I think, known as an organization totally committed to quality and quality improvement,” Sister Mary Jean said. “If that’s what people could say about me—that I was leading SSM at the time we did these things—I’d be happy with that.”

SSM was recognized as a shining example of quality care in an industry not always known for that in 2002 when the system was the first health care organization to receive the coveted Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Sister Mary Jean’s years of hard work boils down to three areas of strong commitment—to preserve the earth, to increase diversity in the system and to achieve quality improvement.

With her at the helm, SSM instituted many green practices early on. “You won’t find a bottle of water anywhere in any of our hospitals or in our corporate office,” Sister Susan Scholl, an SSM board member, said.

Her commitment to the environment comes from the order’s commitment to non-violence, Sister Mary Jean said. “That extends to whatever we do to the earth, and we know that we have done violence to the earth,” she added.

Through the years Sister Mary Jean also strived for diversity in SSM’s board and leadership knowing that the populations the hospital serves are diverse.

“My goal has always been to get some diversity on these boards,” she said. “Having a board of 15 white guys does not necessarily mean you’re going to be as good as you need to be. We need that diversity. If you don’t even have it as a moral principle, at least look at it as a good business practice.”

Sister Mary Jean tapped Thompson to succeed her and worked together with him for two years on what they hope will be a seemless transition.

“There will always be a change, and when it (the transition) is at this level of the organization, it’s pretty dramatic. And my long tenure, of course, make it even more dramatic.”

Sister Mary Jean stays on as chair of SSM Board of Directors and SSM’s six other regional and divisional boards but that role is far different from that of CEO, she said.

Thompson, who has worked with Sister Mary Jean for 30 years and co-wrote a book with her, is well aware of the proverbial big footsteps he will walk in.

“Sister Mary Jean is leaving a legacy of care and compassion and excellence at SSM Health Care,” he said. “We are very fortunate that she will remain as chair of our board to continue to provide us her guidance and wisdom as we approach the future.

“And my biggest legacy is to see that ensure that that legacy she leaves behind is continued in the future.”