Steve Mackin was recently announced to be the next president and CEO of Mercy health system, effective April 2022. In an Oct. 28 interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch, he discussed his preparation for the role and the system's focus on helping the local community.
Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy operates across four states with over 2,100 physicians on its team. Mr. Mackin has been with Mercy for five years, first in a business development role and then as executive vice president.
He told the Post Dispatch that he is entering this role in the middle of a five-year strategy sprint so he can come into his position with clear goals in mind. The system is ramping up care in all of its communities and aims to increase its capacity outside of primary care into specialist areas.
"We're seeing strong, consistent growth," Mr. Mackin said.
He also mentioned Mercy's focus on community health and providing affordable healthcare.
"In the long run, the health systems that will perform are the ones that have accessible, affordable healthcare available to their communities," he said.
Increased scrutiny and pressure to ensure accessibility will contribute to health systems gearing their care to a more community-focused model, he said. He emphasized the need for health systems to be innovative and nimble in the face of uncertainty and shifting markets.
"There's health systems that may have been able to perform in the past. But as [supply costs and wages] increase, and as the ability to increase rates and push that to the consumer no longer exists, particularly with price transparency, I think there's going to be a real difference in health systems that perform versus those that don't," he told the Post Dispatch.