St. Joseph CEO in Sonoma County to oversee Northern California

[caption id="attachment_20005" align="alignleft" width="108" caption="Kevin Klockenga"][/caption]

SANTA ROSA -- Kevin Klockenga, president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph Health System--Sonoma County, has been appointed executive vice president for the Northern California Region as part of a restructuring of leadership for the health system that owns Santa Rosa Memorial and operates Petaluma Valley hospitals.

In his new role, Mr. Klockenga will oversee operations in Northern California, including Sonoma, Napa and Humboldt counties. It will be one of three regional divisions of the Orange-based health system, the other two being Southern California and West Texas/Eastern New Mexico.

At this time, Mr. Klockenga will continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of Sonoma County operations in addition to his new role as executive vice president. He started in that role in 2009.

“I remain committed as ever to leading our Sonoma County ministries, and will maintain my office and home here in Santa Rosa," Mr. Klockenga said. "My wife, Millie, and our family have come to love this community, and I plan to remain active here with St. Joseph Health System for years to come.”

Joe Mark, president and chief executive of St. Joseph Health System -- Humboldt County, and Walt Mickens, the new president and chief executive of Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, will report to Mr. Klockenga.

Effective July 1, the regional leadership trio will replace the current health system chief operating officer role, which oversees hospitals, physician organizations and other health services.  The executive vice presidents will report to Deborah Proctor, president and chief executive of St. Joseph Health System.

Appointed to the other two roles are Darrin Montalvo, current St. Joseph Health System chief financial officer, for the Southern California region; and Richard Parks, current chief executive of Covenant Health System, for the West Texas/Eastern New Mexico region.

The executive changes are "to better position the organization to provide more integrated, innovative, high-quality care at the greatest value, while continuing to carry on its mission among top-performing health systems in the United States," according to a statement by St. Joseph Health.

“We are fortunate to have the leading hospitals and affiliated physicians in the markets we serve,” said Ms. Proctor.  “However, we need our hospitals to work more closely together and more closely with our physicians and healthcare partners to be able to coordinate care in each region.  To do this requires that St. Joseph Health System leverage its regional resources and provide a continuum of care that is the preferred choice for patients and payors.”

The development of strategies to accomplish this will be a primary task to the new regional executive vice presidents.

“I am honored and humbled by the trust Deborah Proctor and the health system have placed in me to serve among the key leaders who will help guide the establishment of this new regional structure,” said Mr. Klockenga.  “The changes we are making will help ensure the ongoing vitality of our mission into the future, allow us to work better together to maximize our resources, and leverage our regional presence.”

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