03 Nov Who’ll be CEO after merger of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, Columbia St. Mary’s?
One intriguing decision about the pending merger of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare with the owner of Columbia St. Mary’s will be the combined organization’s choice for CEO.
Both Wheaton Franciscan and Columbia St. Mary’s have their own CEOs and their own management teams. Clearly not everyone will survive the transaction expected to close in early 2016.
Another layer of management and executives work at Columbia St. Mary’s corporate sister in Ascension Health — Ministry Health Care in Milwaukee.
For now, the word is that former Ministry Health Care CEO Nick Desien will continue in his more recent role overseeing all of Ascension’s businesses in Wisconsin.
“Nick Desien is the Ascension Health/Wisconsin Ministry market executive and will continue to assume those responsibilities,” Ministry said via email.
Desien, who was president and CEO of Ministry Health Care from 1999 until December 2014, has been overseeing “strategic positioning and operational performance” of both Ministry Health Care and Columbia St. Mary’s.
The Columbia St. Mary’s corporate office is on Milwaukee’s east side across the street from the organization’s Milwaukee hospital and clinics. Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare’s headquarters is in a Glendale business park.