Saint Thomas Health
Leadership
James Bearden
Chairman, Board of Directors
Dr. Mike Schatzlein
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Schatzlein received his Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. After receiving his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, and training in surgery at the Indiana University and University of Michigan Medical Centers, he was a practicing cardiac surgeon at St. Joseph Hospital from 1981 to 1984. From 1984 to 1989, he was Chief of Transplantation at Lutheran Hospital and was a founder of the Northern Indiana Heart Institute in 1986. He transitioned to administration in 1994, serving in various roles in development, marketing, and managed care before becoming CEO of St. Joseph in 1999.
Dr. Schatzlein has always been active in community affairs, and served on numerous boards and councils in Indiana. He currently serves on the boards of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Health Care Council, and the Nashville Symphony. He and his wife Liz, a broadcast journalist, live in Nashville.
Wes Littrell
President and CEO, Saint Thomas Affiliates and Chief Strategy Officer
Wes Littrell has served in progressively responsible executive roles over the past 22 years with Saint Thomas Health. He is currently the President & CEO of Saint Thomas Health Affiliates and Chief Strategy Officer for Saint Thomas Health. He has been responsible for strategic planning, administrative, operational, financial, ancillary, physician practice, ambulatory, partnership/joint ventures and clinical areas throughout his healthcare career. During his 30 years in the healthcare field he has held executive positions in for-profit, not-for-profit, faith-based and academic health systems. Littrell has authored articles for both Office Magazine and HFMA Magazine and has been interviewed and published in HealthLeaders magazine for his work on healthcare community partnerships. He often serves as "thought leader" on Ascension Health strategic committees in helping set new direction for the system.
Wes received a B.S. degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of North Alabama, in Florence. He did his post-graduate work in Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Wes received certification in patient accounting from the Healthcare Financial Management Association in 1985 and received his designation as Fellow from the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2006.
Alan Strauss
Chief Financial Officer
Saint Thomas Health
Alan was named Chief Financial Officer of Saint Thomas Health in May 2006 and brings nearly 30 years of healthcare finance experience to the role, specializing in effecting rapid advances in multi-facility organizations. Fourteen years of Alan's career were spent at Saint John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California. At Saint John's, Strauss served as Chief Financial Officer/Operations Leader and as the CEO of Vinserra, a for-profit affiliate of the Health Center. Saint John's is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.
Karen Springer
Senior Vice President, Operations
Karen Springer joined Saint Thomas Health as the Senior Vice President of Operations on March 14, 2011. Previously Springer held the role of Chief Operating Officer/Executive Vice President of Lutheran Hospital of Indiana in Fort Wayne, a position she has held since 2007.
As COO of Lutheran Hospital, Springer oversaw the operations of the acute care hospital as well as providing key leadership to 16 divisions including emergency care and all ancillary and support services. She established a COO council for six of the regional facilities within the Lutheran Health Network.
Springer received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and her Master of Science in Nursing Administration from Ball State University. She is a board member of the Matthew 25 Health Clinic, Three Rivers Ambulance Authority and the local Children’s Hope House. She is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Fort Wayne.
Deborah Story
Chief Human Resource Officer
Deborah Story joined Saint Thomas Health as the Chief Human Resource Officer on Feb. 21, 2011. Story previously worked as the Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Human Resources during the Bredesen administration. She brings more than twenty-five years of human resources experience and extensive community based relationships and service to the role.
As a member of Governor Bredesen’s cabinet and Chief Human Resources Officer for the State
of Tennessee, Story oversaw the human resources function for approximately 43,000 executive branch employees. She was also responsible for initiating and monitoring legislation affecting state employees and chaired the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Equal and Fair Employment Opportunity as well as other human resources related boards. Among the notable achievements during her tenure with the State, Story led the design and implementation of a statewide Emergency Workforce Management Plan, the template for which gained consideration as a federal model. Under her leadership, the Human Resources function experienced increased efficiency in its operations by reducing the number of actions requiring the Department’s approval, streamlining processes, reducing turnaround time for reviewing salary adjustments and improving the applicant hiring system. She led the establishment of the state’s 12 leadership core competencies and LEAD Tennessee, the state’s premier leadership development initiative. These and other accomplishments led to Story’s department receiving the 2010 International Public Management Association-Human Resources (IPMA-HR) Excellence Award.
Story received her Bachelor of Arts in Management and Human Relations from Nashville’s Trevecca Nazarene University. She is very active in community and professional organizations. Story is on the Board of Directors for Alive Hospice and assumed the role of Board Chair this year. She is also on the Board of Trustees for the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and currently serves as their Human Resources Committee Chair. Story is a member of President’s Advisory Committee for Trevecca Nazarene University, the Tennessee chapter of the International Women’s Forum, and CABLE. She served on the inaugural board of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation and on the local boards of the YWCA, Girl Scouts of Cumberland Valley, Nashville City Club, and the Center for Non-Profit Management. She was a YWCA Academy for Women of Achievement (AWA) honoree in 2009 and was a CABLE Athena Award nominee in both 2005 and 2008. She was a member of the Leadership Nashville class of 2005.
Bernie Sherry
President and Chief Executive Officer
Baptist Hospital
Bernie Sherry joined Baptist Hospital as president and CEO in June 2003. He is responsible for leading the largest not-for-profit community hospital in Middle Tennessee with 683 licensed beds and nearly 2,000 associates. Prior to joining Baptist Hospital and Saint Thomas Health, Sherry worked at the Greenville University Hospital System, a 1,100 bed multi-hospital system, in Greenville, S.C.
He earned his bachelor's degree from Gannon University in Erie, PA, and his master's degree in health administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. He is a diplomat of the American College of Health Care Executives and a participant in Ascension Health's Leadership Formation for Healthcare Ministry, a two-year program focusing on ministry within a healthcare setting. Sherry is active in the Nashville community and serves on several corporate boards. Sherry and his wife, Lori, have three children and live in Franklin, Tenn.
Gordon B. Ferguson, FACHE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Middle Tennessee Medical Center
Gordon B. Ferguson has served as president and chief executive officer since 2006. Ferguson has more than 20 years of healthcare experience. He began his career as director of planning at Baptist Medical Center Princeton in Birmingham, Ala. In 1998, Ferguson joined MTMC as senior vice president of support services and subsequently served as senior vice president of operations. In 2004, he was named chief operating officer. He has overseen the construction of a $26 million outpatient service facility, facilitated the establishment of joint ventures and completed a master facility plan as part of the hospital's overall strategic plan. Currently, he oversees a $267 million project for MTMC's replacement facility.
Ferguson received a bachelor's degree in business administration with honors from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned a master's degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In 2007, Ferguson became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an international professional society of more than 30,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. Ferguson serves on the board of directors for United Way of Rutherford County; he serves on the Business Education Partnership board of directors and is a member of noon Rotary in Murfreesboro. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Murfreesboro with their two sons, Robbie and Andy.
Dawn Rudolph
President and CEO, Saint Thomas Hospital
Dawn Rudolph began her duties as president and CEO of Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville on Nov. 1, 2010. Previously, Dawn served as Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Rudolph began her healthcare career at St. Joseph Hospital in 1990 advancing from a project coordinator to Administrator of the Dupont Surgery Center. In 2000, she was named Support Services Team Leader at Dupont Hospital, also a part of the Lutheran Health Network. Here, she was promoted to Vice President of Operations and then served as the Chief Operating Officer of that facility from 2006 to 2009. She returned to St. Joseph Hospital as its CEO in 2009 where she successfully expanded the medical staff, improved EMS-hospital relationships and developed a multicultural community roundtable to improve health indicator metrics in Fort Wayne.
Rudolph received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Indiana University – Fort Wayne and her MBA (with healthcare specialization) from Indiana Wesleyan University – Fort Wayne. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Healthcare Executives and was active in the community of Fort Wayne, serving on multiple civic boards including the Fort Wayne Urban League, Fort Wayne Center for Learning and the City of Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District.