Heer to Step Down as NMHS CEO

Heer

The North Mississippi Health Services Board of Directors announced today that John Heer will resign his position as NMHS president and chief executive officer in one year, effective Aug. 31, 2014. NMHS will begin an immediate search for his successor.

“After significant prayer and discussion with my wife, we have decided that now is the time to make this change,” Heer said. “It is in the organization’s best interest to allow the new CEO to have input in the selection of the next president of NMMC-Tupelo and the NMHS Vice President of Community Hospitals.”

“As chairman of the NMHS Board, I would like to thank John for his outstanding leadership over the last 9? years,” said Robin McGraw, NMHS Board president. “Under his guidance, we were awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice. North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo was a 2006 recipient and NMHS was a 2012 recipient of this prestigious award. We appreciate him being proactive and giving his notice well in advance so we can begin the process to hire a new CEO and to make a smooth transition in leadership.”

 

Filling a position at this level in any health care organization can take up to a year or longer. Mickey Holliman, a member of the NMHS Board of Directors, will serve as chairman of the search committee.

Heer, 54, joined NMHS in May 2004. His accomplishments during his tenure at NMHS include restructuring the corporate board governance to be more transparent, open and responsive to the communities served; reorganizing the leadership structure according to services lines; initiating a Servant Leadership philosophy; reconnecting with the community; improving communication with employees, physicians and the Board; hard wiring several leadership systems to enhance alignment and deployment throughout the organization and leading the organization’s efforts in its receipt of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2006 and 2012. Before joining NMHS, he served as president of Baptist Hospital, Inc., in Pensacola, Fla.

“This is a great organization, and I will miss being a part of its success,” Heer said.

Heer and his wife Pollyanna reside in Tupelo. They have two grown daughters who live outside of the home. Heer and his wife intend to take a year off after his resignation to plan their next move.

Categories: Local News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *