Shroder to Retire as CEO of Mercy Health Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Robert Shroder, president and CEO of Mercy Health, will retire from the system in February , the hospital executive announced this morning in a letter to employees.

“This is a difficult letter to write, and one that I have considered writing several times in the past year, but I have decided now is the time,” Shroder wrote.

“Announcing my plans is hard for me because I love this organization and will greatly miss all of you,” he continued. “I am making this decision after extensive conversations with my wife and lots of prayers. We have agreed that this is the right time for me to make this live-changing decision.”

Shroder was out of town due to a family emergency and unavailable for comment, said Mercy Health spokeswoman Sally Hammel.

Providing his six-month notice will give the board of directors and Mercy Health “ample time” to select his successor, his letter noted.

“ I will work as hard as ever in my last six months to address our challenges, position us for the future, and make sure we remain the preferred health-care system in the Mahoning Valley,” he wrote. “This also means I will continue to worry about virtually everything and take my two blood pressure medications; hopefully both of these will be reduced in February.”

Shroder joined the nonprofit health-care organization in 1997, when he was hired as chief operating officer at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren., and has been CEO of the organization, previously known as Humility of Mary Health Partners, for 13 years.

Accomplishments for the system during his tenure that he enumerated in his letter included “turning a field in Boardman” into the 248-bed St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, bringing new organizations such as Hospice of the Valley and Assumption Village into ithe health-care system system, starting a school of nursing in partnership with Mercy College, and “achieving multiple awards for clinical quality from many different external organizations.”

Betty Jo Licata, chairman of the Mercy Health, Youngstown, board, commended Shroder’s “vision and leadership. …Bob’s commitment to our mission and his ability to form high-value strategic partnerships are the hallmarks of his success,” she said in a statement.

Mercy Health said it will conduct a search to fill Shroder’s position.

CLICK HERE to read Shroder’s letter to Mercy Health  Youngstown employees.

Pictured: Aerial view of St. Elizabeth Hospital Youngstown, part of Mercy Health.

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