In the five years since Bill Thompson has been CEO, the health system's revenue has doubled to $6 billion.
William P. Thompson is handing over the reins, but it might be a while before he steps down.
The president and CEO of St. Louis-based SSM Health, with 20 hospitals in four states, announced plans to retire as soon as a new CEO can be found. He'll stay on until that happens.
Thompson has spent the majority of his career, 36 years, with SSM, and though he's only been CEO for five, the system has achieved arguably its biggest spurt of growth with him at the helm.
In 2003, SSM Health became the first health system in the country to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to lead one of the largest and most respected mission-based healthcare systems in the country and serve alongside so many talented, compassionate and dedicated individuals," said Thompson in a press release.
"This was not an easy decision. However, after much reflection and deliberation, I feel it is time to begin transitioning to the next chapter in my life."
During his term at the helm, the system's revenue has doubled to $6 billion, partially under the strength of SSM's acquisition of Wisconsin's Dean Health, which included 60 clinics, a large multispecialty physician group, and a health plan.
Also during Thompson's term, the system acquired
- St. Anthony Shawnee Hospital and St. Anthony Shawnee Physicians group in Oklahoma
- SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital – Audrain, along with 9 rural clinics, and the Audrain County Health Department's Home Health and Hospice Division
- And SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SSM Health's first adult academic medical center), which gave SSM Health the opportunity to help train future clinicians in partnership with Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Thompson was a long-serving chief operating officer at SSM before being promoted to CEO. In 2011 he succeeded Sister Mary Jean Ryan, who had served as CEO since the system's founding in 1986.
The system will conduct a national search for Thompson's successor, but no timetable has been determined.