The President of SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Damon Harbison will be expanding his leadership to also serve as President of Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon.
The change comes as part of a reorganization of SSM Health Illinois as a result of the retirement of Illinois Region President Michael Baumgartner after 44 years of leadership and service. Baumgartner will retire effective July 2nd and SSM Health is thanking him for all his contributions while he was in Southern Illinois.
Baumgartner says he has enjoyed living in Mt. Vernon these past two years while serving as Regional President of SSM Health Southern Illinois and more recently the added role of President of Good Samaritan Hospital.
After Baumgartner’s retirement, Jeremy Fotheringham will serve as Regional President for both SSM Health Illinois and SSM Health St. Louis.
In addition to serving as President of both St. Mary’s and Good Samaritan, Harbison will continue to lead the Rural Health Network in Illinois.
Since joining SSM Health in 2010, Harbison has advanced in several leadership growth opportunities within the organization and has led the Rural Health Network for the past three years. He is also involved in numerous community and philanthropic boards and was recently elected to the Board of Trustees for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.
Harbison says the talent and dedication in their health ministries in Southern Illinois continue to impress him. He feels the level of their future success is limitless with the culture, resources, and values of their teams and he is confident that they will fulfill their mission to provide high-quality healthcare to the region.
