Bon Secours, Mercy Pick Post-Merger Name, CEO

A previously announced merger brings together Maryland and Ohio health systems under one name as one CEO is chosen to lead them.

Two Catholic health systems that announced a merger in late February have moved quickly to name a CEO that will lead the combined companies.

John M. Starcher Jr., president and CEO of Cincinnati-based Mercy Health, will serve as president and CEO of the new organization—Bon Secours Mercy Health—while Rich Statuto, president and CEO of Marriottsville, Maryland-based Bon Secours Health System, will serve the combined organization as an advisor for the next year, the organizations announced Monday. Statuto will retire in 2019.

"Our new ministry ... is positioned to be more successful than Mercy Health and Bon Secours ever could be as separate entities," said Starcher, in a press release. "We will expand our services and programs, provide greater access in our markets to help and serve more people."

Related: Mercy Health and Bon Secours Announce Merger

He says the combined entity will provide almost $2 million a day in community benefit. The new name will be effective when the merger becomes final this fall. In his advisory role, Statuto, who has served as Bon Secours CEO for 13 years, will focus on strategic growth and innovation.

• The new name will not immediately affect current names and brands at individual facilities, which will continue use their current brands in signage, uniforms and badges.
   
• Mercy Health and Bon Secours rank in the top performing quartile of Catholic health systems for low cost, high quality patient care.
   
• The combination creates the country's fifth largest Catholic health system, and the release claims the merger should allow it to leverage economies of scale by integrating resources and teams across the ministries, but no layoffs were announced.
   
• The new entity will own or manage 43 hospitals and employ 57,500 people.
   
• Chris Allen, who currently serves as chair of the Bon Secours Board of Trustees, will chair the new entity, while Katherine Vestal, PhD, current chair of the Mercy Health Board of Trustees, will serve as vice chair.
   
• The overarching governing entity or Public Juridic Person, which has canonical oversight for the system, will be called Bon Secours Mercy Health Ministries and will be chaired by Sister Pat Eck, C.B.S.
   
• Statuto has been active in leadership positions at both the Board of Trustees for the Catholic Health Association of the United States, as well as Premier, a publicly traded healthcare improvement company started by 181 hospitals, health systems and healthcare organizations, where he currently serves as chair.

"I am confident in John's ability to lead Bon Secours Mercy Health as we combine our healthcare ministries to form a new organization," said Statuto, in the release. "While I look forward to retirement and spending time with my family, I am fully committed to the success of our newly formed ministry."