Catholic Health East: Latest News

Catholic Health East and Mercy Medical Announce New CEO

December 08, 2008

Jake Bell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Medical in Daphne, Ala.

Newtown Square, Pa., Monday, December 8, 2008 -- Following the completion of an intensive, six month internal and national search process, Catholic Health East (CHE) and the Mercy Medical Board of Directors announce the appointment of Jake Bell as the new president and chief executive officer of Mercy Medical in Daphne, Ala. Mercy Medical provides long-term care, assisted living, rehabilitation and home care to the communities of Baldwin and Mobile Counties. Bell will assume his new role on January 5, 2009

Bell, 33, is a longtime member of the CHE family, joining St. Joseph of the Pines in Southern Pines, N.C., as the director of health services in 2004, and serving as its executive director since 2007. As executive director, he had oversight over two independent living communities, an assisted living, and a skilled nursing facility, and helped to lead St. Joseph of the Pines through a period of growth and enhancement of its programs and services. Prior to that, Bell was administrator of the Lawnview Nursing Center and Brookside Nursing Center in Maddill, Okla., and before that, served as administrator in training at Mercy Health Care Center in Tupper Lake, N.Y.

“We are very pleased to offer this new opportunity for Jake to lead Mercy Medical in its mission of providing quality health care to the communities it serves,” said Robert V. Stanek, president and CEO, Catholic Health East. “Jake has been a devoted and influential member of the CHE family. He will be a great addition to Mercy Medical.”

“I am very excited about the opportunity to join the ministry at Mercy Medical. I am looking forward to working collaboratively with members of the Board of Trustees, the staff at Mercy Medical and others to expand on and improve the services we provide,” said Bell.

Mercy Medical has been a leader among health care providers on the Gulf Coast since 1949, when the Sisters of Mercy founded Villa Mercy in Daphne, Ala. Considered one of the top employers of choice in south Alabama, Mercy Medical is a health care continuum that provides services in acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing care, long-term care, home health, hospice, assisted living, lifecare retirement and memory care.

Catholic Health East, a multi-institutional Catholic health system co-sponsored by 10 religious congregations and Hope Ministries, is based in Newtown Square, Pa. Catholic Health East provides the means to ensure the continuation of the Catholic identity and operational strength of the Sponsors’ health ministries, which are located in 11 eastern states from Maine to Florida. The system includes 35 acute-care hospitals, four long-term acute-care hospitals, 36 freestanding and hospital-based long-term care facilities, 12 assisted-living facilities, five continuing-care retirement communities, seven behavioral-health and rehabilitation facilities, 25 home health/hospice agencies and numerous ambulatory and community-based health services. More information is available on the CHE website at www.che.org.

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