Wauwatosa-based Froedtert Health has named Allen Ericson as president of St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend. Ericson will also fulfill the role of chief operating officer of the Community Hospital Division of Froedtert Health.
Ericson, who will take over for interim president David Olson in early September, has more than 20 years of professional experience in health care. For the past seven years, he was senior vice president and chief operating officer of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.J.
“I’ve found that the staff in every health care organization I’ve been involved with has the passion of caring, and that’s a great culture to be a part of,” Ericson said.
Dennis Pollard, chief operating officer of Froedtert Health and president of the Community Hospital Division, said Catholic Medical Center has a very similar culture to Froedtert Health and the size of its community is very comparable to the size Ericson will be serving in his new position.
Ericson said the culture is largely what sold him on the St. Joseph’s position. While everything he researched and read about Froedtert Health was positive, Ericson said his visits to the Froedtert medical community and the people he met with during his visits and interviews swayed his decision.
“It was the right fit for me,” he said.
In his new role, Ericson will direct St. Joseph’s Community Hospital and will manage daily operations of the Froedtert Health Community Hospital Division, which includes St. Joseph’s Hospital and Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls.
Among his first orders of business will be forging relationships with the community and Froedtert Health’s staff. He also plans to meet with community leaders. Ericson said he has always been active in his community and will continue with that approach as he advances his career in Milwaukee.
“It seems like a great opportunity in a wonderful community to continue to build on what’s already been established,” Ericson said.
Pollard said he is particularly confident in the new president’s ability to strengthen the relationship between St. Joseph’s Hospital and Froedtert Health System.
“I think one of his significant attributes is that he gets the big picture of where health care is going, and he knows that for any organization to be successful, it has to be well-integrated into the broader health care system,” Pollard said. “He will be able to build bridges between the hospital and the medical staff, the hospital and the community, and the hospital and the other components of our health system.”
Ericson, who is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, holds a master’s of business administration from Widener University in Chester, Penn., and a bachelor’s in economics from Rutgers University in Camden, N.J.
