Mercy Medical Center Names Interim President & CEO

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Tags: health care , Mercy Medical Center , Sisters of Charity Health System

---

Mercy Medical Center has announced the appointment of Paul C. Hiltz, FACHE, as interim CEO.  He will join Mercy Medical Center on July 24. His appointment will allow a smooth transition of leadership following the recent announcement of president and CEO Thomas E. Cecconi’s retirement plans at the end of this year.  Cecconi will remain with Mercy through December as president emeritus, and will assist in the leadership transition, as well as support Mercy in its community, development and medical staff relations. 

Hiltz has most recently served as a senior adviser for the Mercy Health System (formerly Catholic Health Partners) in Cincinnati.  He previously held positions as  president and CEO at Mercy Health Springfield Region and Network CEO of Community Mercy Health Partners (CMHP). 

"Paul Hiltz brings experience in Catholic health care and an accomplished record of leadership to Mercy Medical Center,” said Jack Gravo, chairman, Mercy board of directors. “We are confident he will lead Mercy Medical Center to deliver the quality and excellence in health care that Mercy is known for in the greater Stark County community."

Hiltz was responsible for implementing and heading Mercy Health’s Accountable Care Organization, Mercy Health Select. That experience will prove valuable in his role at Mercy as  payor models shift to value based purchasing and population health management.  He had been with Catholic Health Partners since 1985 where he held many senior roles, including president and CEO of Mercy Mt. Airy Hospital and vice president of Mercy Medical Associates (MMA). He is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and holds a master’s degree in health administration from Xavier University.

“I am honored to join the Mercy Medical Center family,” said Hiltz.  “Their many award winning programs, including those in heart and cancer, as well as their  highly regarded team of physicians and staff, clearly put Mercy on the map as an outstanding hospital that provides quality, compassionate care for this community.”

Founded in 1908 in Canton, Ohio, by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, Mercy Medical Center has grown into a nationally recognized heath care organization that includes the main campus hospital in Canton; as well as ten centers in community health centers that provide services in Alliance, Jackson Township, Massillon, North Canton, Plain Township, Lake Township, Louisville, Carroll County, and Tuscarawas County. In addition, Mercy Primary Care - St. Paul Square was opened in 2012 in the medically underserved Northeast section of Canton. This medical home model provides primary care to pediatric and adult patients and is a satellite office of Mercy Dental Services. 

Mercy has a Level II Trauma Center and Emergency Department that treated more than 68,000 patient visits last year, and the nation’s first accredited Emergency Chest Pain Center (ECPC) with a dedicated, state-of-the-art heart catheterization laboratory located right in the ECPC. Centers of excellence include Mercy Heart Center, Mercy Cancer Center, Mercy Robotic Surgery Center, Mercy Orthopedic Center, Mercy Dental Center and Mercy Rehabilitation Center. 

As Hiltz begins his interim role, the task of identifying a new president and CEO to lead Mercy will commence, as led by Thomas J. Strauss, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System (SCHS), and the Mercy Medical Center and SCHS boards. 

About Mercy Medical Center

Mercy Medical Center, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, operates a 476-bed hospital serving Stark, Carroll, Wayne, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties and parts of Southeastern Ohio. It has 620 members on its Medical Staff and employs 2,500 people. Mercy operates outpatient health centers in Alliance, Carroll County, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Louisville, Massillon, North Canton, Plain Township and Tuscarawas County. A Catholic hospital, Mercy Medical Center upholds the mission and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and continues to be responsive to the needs of the community. For more information, visit cantonmercy.org.

About Sisters of Charity Health System

The Sisters of Charity Health System was established in 1982 as the parent corporation for the sponsored ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Ohio and South Carolina. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine is a congregation of women religious that, since founding in 1851, continues a faith-based legacy of high-quality, compassionate care in partnership with its co-ministers, who are the heart and hands of the ministry.

The Sisters of Charity Health System solely owns two Catholic hospitals: St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio; and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. The health system also oversees three grantmaking foundations located in Cleveland, Canton and Columbia, South Carolina. Each foundation sponsors significant community initiatives and collaborations that address causes and consequences of poverty. Outreach organizations include Joseph’s Home, a unique residential care center for homeless men in Cleveland; Early Childhood Resource Center for people working in childcare in all settings in Canton; Healthy Learners, a health care resource for children from low-income families in South Carolina; and the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, a state-wide organization supporting initiatives to reengage fathers in the lives of their children. The Sisters of Charity Health System also provides residential elder care services at Regina Health Center in Richfield, Ohio, and Light of Hearts Villa in Bedford, Ohio.