INDIANAPOLIS – August 22, 2007, Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system, has named Vincent C. Caponi, CEO of St.Vincent Health, as one of its nine Ministry Market Leaders, with extended oversight of St.Vincent Health (Indianapolis) and St. Mary’s Health System (Evansville). Ministry Market Leaders work with a group of Health Ministries within a specific geographic area to increase linkage among the 38 Ascension Health Ministries located in communities across the country.
Effective September 1, Caponi will be responsible for all Ascension Health hospitals in Indiana – St.Vincent Indianapolis, St.Vincent Children’s, St.Vincent Women’s, St.Vincent Carmel, St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana, St.Vincent Stress Center, St.Vincent New Hope, St.Vincent Seton Specialty Hospital, Saint John’s Health System in Anderson, St. Joseph Hospital in Kokomo, St.Vincent Clay in Brazil, St.Vincent Jennings in North Vernon, St.Vincent Mercy in Elwood, St.Vincent Randolph in Winchester, St.Vincent Williamsport and St.Vincent Frankfort.
In addition, Caponi’s new leadership responsibilities with St. Mary’s Health System in Evansville include two hospitals – St. Mary’s Medical Center and St. Mary’s Warrick. These new additions will establish St.Vincent Health as the largest health care system in Indiana with 19 hospitals and 14,800 associates. All Ascension Indiana health care ministry leaders will report directly to Caponi.
“Ministry Market Leaders provide us with the agility and flexibility to adjust to the ever-changing healthcare environment,” said Robert J. Henkel, Chief Operating Officer, Ascension Health. “We are pleased to have Vince serve as a Ministry Market Leader. His leadership will further improve the ability of our Health Ministries to serve their communities, carry out our Mission, and help us achieve our Strategic Direction, which calls for us to transform healthcare by 2020.”
The Ministry Market Leader concept provides flexibility to deal with each geographic area’s unique challenges and opportunities. The concept is part of Ascension Health’s distributed leadership model and ensures a continued vital presence in all the communities we serve.
“I am pleased to continue to serve Ascension Health and work closely with leadership at our System Office in St. Louis,” said Caponi. “This promotion to Ministry Market Leader for Indiana will not only extend my scope of leadership responsibilities to service the unique health care needs of patients throughout the state, but also promote the sharing of best practices with other Ascension Health Ministries across the nation.”
Charged with oversight of Indiana, Caponi will continue to serve as CEO of St.Vincent Health but also will have expanded responsibilities to develop market strategies and identify and promote the sharing of best practices, as well as alignment among Health Ministries, both within the market and with the System Office. Additionally, as a Ministry Market Leader, Caponi will share accountability for strategic positioning and operational performance of the Ascension Health Ministries in his market. Caponi will report directly to Henkel and will continue to report to his local board.
Caponi has more than 30 years of health care leadership experience, while having executive tenures at St.Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama; St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta, Georgia; and United Memorial Hospital in Greenville, Michigan.
Caponi holds a master’s degree in Health Care Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University. He also serves on boards for Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Indiana Health Information Exchange, Indiana Hospital & Health Association, Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Boy Scouts of America, Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Central Indiana, which he will serve as chairman in 2008.
Consistent with its mission to serve all people with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable, Ascension Health (www.ascensionhealth.org) is an innovative leader in transforming healthcare through patient-centered, holistic care of the highest clinical quality, and provided $703.9 million in care of persons who are poor and community benefit last year. Ascension Health is the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system, with more than 100,000 associates serving in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
St.Vincent Health is a health care system of 19 hospitals serving Indiana, and the fifth largest employer in the state with 14,800 associates. St.Vincent Health is committed to providing “Healthcare That Is Safe.” One way this is being demonstrated is through Ascension Health’s membership in the National Quality Forum created to develop and implement a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting.
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St.Vincent Hospitals and Health Services
Driven by the faith of four Daughters of Charity who arrived in Indianapolis in 1881 with $34.77 in their pockets, the St.Vincent Hospital mission is to treat the poor and sick by following our Core Values of Service of the Poor, Reverence, Integrity, Wisdom, Creativity and Dedication. Our healthcare ministry has grown to include seven Centers of Excellence: Women's, Children's, Orthopedics, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience, Oncology and Bariatrics. The ageless mission of St.Vincent remains unchanged: to minister to the minds, bodies and spirits of those in need.
