New CEO announced for St. Joseph Medical Center

The chief executive officer of St. Francis Health Center in Topeka, Kan., on Monday became the new CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City.

The appointment of Robert J. Erickson was announced by Prime Healthcare Services which last week completed its purchase of St. Joseph and St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs.

Erickson had led St. Francis for the past five years, and has held leadership positions in the health care industry for more than 20 years.

Prime said the new CEO for St. Mary’s will be announced at a later date. The California-based hospital company also announced two other executive appointments.

Debra L. Cartwright has been named regional chief financial officer for the four Prime properties in the Kansas City area. Prime also owns Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and St. John Medical Center in Leavenworth, Kan.

Prime said Deb Ohnoutka, chief nursing officer for St. Joseph and St. Mary’s, will remain in that position, supervising nursing initiatives.

St. Joseph and St. Mary’s had been owned by Carondelet Health, a part of Ascension Health.

Diane Stafford, stafford@kcstar.com

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 1:38 PM with the headline "New CEO announced for St. Joseph Medical Center."