These two JoCo hospitals need CEOs. The men there now make more than a million
Two of Johnson County's largest employers are looking for new leaders — and they're both health systems.
Olathe Health is seeking a replacement for Frank Devocelle, who is retiring after 47 years with the organization, including 43 as CEO. Shawnee Mission Health is looking to replace CEO Ken Bacon, who has been tapped to lead the Adventist Health System's south Denver hospitals after six years at Shawnee Mission.
The people the organizations hire will play a major role in health care delivery for the wealthiest county in Kansas.
Shawnee Mission Health has more than 3,000 employees at Shawnee Mission Medical center and a variety of clinics. Olathe Health has more than 2,500 at Olathe Medical Center, Miami County Medical Center and its clinics.
The stakes are high, according to Gallagher MSA Search, a Kansas City company that specializes in health care executive recruiting. Gallagher MSA Search's website says hospital CEOs not only oversee the financial and clinical sides of their organizations, they also have to be the public face for them at social events and fundraisers.
"Hiring the wrong individual without the proper skills for the job can cause the productivity of your hospital to skyrocket downwards and ruin your reputation, which can be very difficult to fix," the site says.
The CEO searches at Shawnee Mission Health and Olathe Health come just after a third major Johnson County hospital, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, replaced CEO Kevin Hicks, who retired.
Overland Park Regional's parent company, HCA Midwest Health, tapped Matt Sogard to move over from the same position at Lee's Summit Medical Center. HCA Midwest is now looking for a new CEO for Lee's Summit.
Jim Hubbard, the chairman of the Olathe Health System board of directors, said the board has convened a search committee to look for candidates both internally and nationwide. It will hire an executive search firm to help vet them.
Devocelle will stay on until the end of the year unless his replacement is found earlier. Hubbard said he's leaving "an extraordinary legacy."
“We are focused on finding the right leader to build upon our 65 years of success," Hubbard said in a prepared statement. "We will find a CEO who possesses a vision that will take us beyond our expectations."
A spokeswoman for Shawnee Mission Health said it's working with its parent organization to select Bacon's replacement "with a priority on candidates identified through the Adventist Health System succession planning process."
The organization expects to hire someone within 60 days.
Tracey Osborne Oltjen, the president and CEO of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, said Bacon had a "tremendous impact" even though his tenure was relatively short compared to Devocelle's.
"Ken executed a vision that significantly renovated the main campus, expanding the birthing center, and created the Shawnee Mission Cancer Center through affiliation with MD Anderson and also expanded Shawnee Mission’s system with campuses in Lenexa and Overland Park," Oltjen said. "His influence and leadership will be missed in the region.”
The open jobs are remarkably similar.
Bacon and Devocelle both made a little more than $1 million a year, as of 2016. That's the most recent available financial disclosure for Shawnee Mission Health and Olathe Health, which are both non-profits.
The two health systems are based in a county where the uninsured rate is about 6 percent, which is about half the national rate, and both are in good financial shape.
Shawnee Mission Medical Center reported $454 million in revenue against about $405 million in expenses in 2016. Olathe Medical Center reported about $276 million in revenue against about $222 million in expenses.
This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 4:49 PM with the headline "These two JoCo hospitals need CEOs. The men there now make more than a million."