Spooner Named President and CEO of Franciscan Health Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights

Franciscan Alliance has named Allan M. Spooner President and Chief Executive Officer of its Franciscan Health hospitals in Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights. He assumes his role with Franciscan Alliance on October 31.

Spooner succeeds Arnie Kimmel who was recently named Senior Vice President of Corporate Services for Franciscan Alliance.

“I am honored to join an outstanding Catholic healthcare mission that has been serving south suburban Chicago for 105 years,” Spooner said. “Franciscan Health Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights is investing in our communities to provide the highest quality, compassionate care designed to meet the healthcare needs for today and into the future. Healthcare is rapidly changing across the country, and it is exciting to come back home to Chicago with Franciscan Alliance, a mission-based health system that is committed to improving the health of its communities.”

A seasoned healthcare administrator, Spooner brings more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience, including his most recent role as President Hospital Division for Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital System, a five-hospital system of Ascension Health in Milwaukee, Wis. At Columbia St. Mary’s he led the successful merger of two larger Wisconsin healthcare systems into the Ascension Health system.

“Allan Spooner brings a strong background in strategic planning to Franciscan Health,” said Kevin D. Leahy, President and CEO of Franciscan Alliance, Inc. “He has an accomplished record of quality improvement and clinical program development and growth, as well as patient, employee and physician engagement success. We are fortunate to have someone of his caliber join our Franciscan Health team as we advance our mission and profound commitment to care for the patients we are privileged to serve.”

Prior to St. Mary’s, Spooner served as president and CEO of Dignity Health’s St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson, Nev. His past experience also includes roles as vice president of Business and Corporate Development at St. John Providence Health System in Detroit, Mich., as well as business development at Tenet Health System and consulting with KPMG Peat Marwick.

Spooner, who grew up on Chicago’s south side, earned an AB in Engineering Science from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and an MBA in Business Policy Studies from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.