Marketing Department
440-816-8650
440-816-1812 (pager)
SOUTHWEST GENERAL APPOINTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Middleburg Heights, OH (June 17, 2010) – On June 10, following an extensive national search, Bobbie Simmerman was appointed as the new executive director of Southwest Community Health Foundation.
“After an intensive national search, we are very pleased that Bobbie Simmerman has accepted the position of executive director here at Southwest General,” stated Thomas A. Selden, FACHE, president and CEO. Simmerman served as interim executive director of the Foundation since January 2010. “As a dedicated employee for 25 years, she has held many different leadership roles and is a results-oriented leader with a proven track record of success. During her interim period, she showed great acumen for the role and will be a good complement to our strong executive team.”
An employee at Southwest General since 1984, Simmerman has held a wide variety of leadership roles, including serving as director of Volunteer Services, Education, Geriatric Services, Developmental Services, Hospice, Women’s Services, Community Outreach, plus a group of hospital based businesses that provide revenue to the Foundation—TV Services, The Corner Shop and Blossom Spot.
Some of Simmerman’s successes in previous roles at Southwest General include expanding the Volunteer Department to more than 1,200 volunteers who donate more than 170,000 hours a year; pursuing grants that yielded more than $166,000 for the Community Van Transportation Program and more than $784,000 for Geriatric Services; launching a Sleep Center for the study of sleep related illnesses; and development of a Women’s Health Center of Excellence.
“Because the Foundation is such an important asset to our communities, our Board wanted to assure we sought out the best possible candidate,” stated Thomas P. Perciak, chairman of Southwest Community Health Foundation Board. “We reviewed the resumes of excellent candidates from inside and outside the region, and we’re quite confident in the selection of Bobbie Simmerman.”
Simmerman obtained B.S. in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and is a Fellow of the Healthcare Advisory Board Company. She resides in Strongsville, Ohio.
About the Southwest Community Health Foundation
Today, the Southwest Community Health Foundation supports many Southwest General services. The Foundation, which became fully operational in 1986, is a not-for-profit organization that centralizes the fundraising efforts of the Southwest Community Health System, the parent corporation of Southwest General Health Center. The Foundation, through its divisions
like The Corner Shop, TV Services and Friends of Southwest, generates funds and raises charitable contributions that are used to enhance the Health Center’s services and facilities. The Foundation has been vital in funding cancer-treating technologies at the Ireland Cancer Center, and has recently focused its efforts on raising funds for the Health Center’s emergency services.
About Southwest General
Recognized as one of HealthGrades’ America’s 50 Best™ Hospitals, Southwest General is a private, not-for-profit, 354-bed acute care facility located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. Founded in 1920, Southwest General is home to nationally recognized physicians with full access to state-of-the-art technology. Southwest General has a deep commitment to providing personalized care and building a healthy future for the patients, families and communities it serves.
Southwest General is the recipient of many other national awards, including two from Thomson Reuters: 100 Top Hospitals and 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals, each for the last five consecutive years. For seven consecutive years Southwest General has been named among the NorthCoast 99 award for the 99 best places to work in Northeast Ohio by the Employers Resource Council.
# # #