Mercy Medical Center names new president
16-year health care administrator to begin duties in mid-August
07 / 12 / 2007
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Maria Nelson, Media Relations
Affinity Health System
(920) 720-1752
(920) 554-0686 (pager)
OSHKOSH, Wis. – William J. Calhoun, senior vice president and chief operating officer of The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC) in Presque Isle, Maine, has been named the new president of Mercy Medical Center.
Calhoun, with 16 years of experience in clinical, operational, strategic and financial leadership in the health care field, will begin his duties Aug. 13.
TAMC is comprised of the 89-bed AR Gould Memorial Hospital, 16-bed psychiatric unit of Community General Hospital and the 72-resident long term care and skilled nursing services of Aroostook Health Center. Since joining TAMC in 2005, Calhoun has been responsible for direct patient care services, as well as outpatient primary and specialty care services of a 60-provider medical group covering eight sites across Aroostook County.
Prior to that, Calhoun worked at Howard Young Health Care in Woodruff, Wis., from 1992 to 2005. Howard Young is an affiliate of Ministry Health Care, Milwaukee, and one of two Affinity Health System sponsors. While at Howard Young, Calhoun served as director of Rehabilitation Services, director of Emergency Services and Vice President, Ancillary & Support Services.
Calhoun, a Wisconsin native with family living throughout the state, is excited to be coming home. “It was always my plan to eventually come back to Wisconsin. The timing of this opportunity has been a very pleasant surprise,” Calhoun said.
“Bill Calhoun has all of the attributes that we could possibly hope for when we began our search for a new leader at Mercy,” said Daniel E. Neufelder, president and chief executive officer of Affinity Health System. “Bill is a respected leader with a proven track record in health care. More importantly, he has a history with Catholic health care and a strong commitment to mission and community.”
And it was that strong commitment to the Catholic health care mission and community that attracted Calhoun to the Mercy position. “One of the things I found when I worked for Ministry was the sense of passion for our work and commitment to our community,” he said. “During recent visits to Oshkosh and Mercy Medical Center, I met some great people and could tell they too were deeply committed to their community and hospital. I want to be part of that.”
Calhoun’s major successes at TAMC revolved around patient satisfaction and customer service. “We have taken customer service to a new level here. TAMC received the 2005 Exemplary Service Most Improved Inpatient Care award, something I’m very proud of,” he said.
At the same time customer satisfaction improved, employee turnover rates decreased dramatically and employee satisfaction rose.
Calhoun says his number one priority when he gets to Oshkosh is to build relationships with the staff and the community. “First and foremost, I want to have a good understanding of what it means to be a member of Mercy and the Oshkosh community,” he said.
He also wants to focus his efforts around patient service. “Starting with the positive, what are the things that Mercy does extremely well and how can we learn from those areas, taking service to a whole new level. Likewise, I’d like to take a look at our present service offerings to the community, and see where there are opportunities for improvement.”
Calhoun, a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his master’s from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is married and has two children; a 13-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son.. Calhoun has been active in the communities he’s lived, being a member of Rotary, the Kiwanis and Jaycees, and serving on the local Board of Education.
“Being an active member of the community is important to me and my family,” Calhoun said. “I am looking forward to getting involved in the Oshkosh area.”
“We’re excited that Bill will join the Affinity team,” Neufelder said. “I’m confident that he will bring a new energy to Mercy Medical Center and the Oshkosh community.”
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For the Editor:
Affinity Health System, a faith-based regional health care network, is the Fox Valley’s second-largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry. For the fourth consecutive year, Affinity has been named one of the nation’s top 64 health systems based on clinical performance according to Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care. For ten consecutive years, Affinity Health System has been named to the SDI (formerly Verispan) Integrated Health Network Top 100, an annual assessment of the 100 most highly integrated health care networks in the nation. Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 25 family practice and specialty clinics – 22 of which are recognized as NCQA Level III medical homes, the highest level of recognition – in 14 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; and Affinity Occupational Health.