Lynn Britton will transition from president and chief executive of Mercy health system to executive chair of the Mercy Board of Directors at a yet to be determined date in 2022.
Lynn Britton
This fall, the Mercy board will name Britton's successor. The new president and chief executive will be an internal candidate, chosen from among the members of Mercy's senior leadership team, according to information from Mercy. The new candidate will assume the chief executive role when Britton becomes executive chair. The transition is part of a succession plan the Mercy board has been developing for several years.
Britton has worked in the Chesterfield, Missouri-based Mercy system for nearly three decades. At the beginning of his Mercy career, he was director of materials management at Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City and then executive director of materials management for St. John's Mercy Health Care in St. Louis. From 2000 to 2004 he was vice president for Mercy's supply chain operating division. From 2004 to 2009, he was a Mercy senior vice president. He has been the top executive at the system since 2009.
In 2017, CHA recognized Britton with its Sister Concilia Moran Award, which the association gives annually to recognize exceptional creativity, leadership and breakthrough thinking that advances the ministry. Two years after Britton assumed the helm of what was then the Sisters of Mercy Health System, that system reorganized as Mercy, and Britton oversaw the unifying of its facilities under that brand. Mercy today includes 40-plus acute care and specialty hospitals, more than 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities and 40,000-plus employees located across four states.
Under Britton's leadership Mercy created its Virtual Care Center to be the hub of the system's telemedicine programs. Also, by integrating medical management with telehealth services, online and telephone support under Britton's leadership, Mercy said in a Catholic Health World article on Britton's honor that the system had reduced readmission rates and improved health outcomes.
At the time of CHA's recognition of Britton, Sr. Mary Roch Rocklage, RSM, said, in that article: "Lynn is a visionary who sees the delivery of health care as a permeating, rather than institutional, presence in our communities. He is a real collaborator who has molded a strong leadership team while setting direction. And he has created an environment where people who serve here feel alive, nourished and motivated to use their talents for the good of all." Sr. Rocklage is health ministry liaison of Mercy Health Ministry, Mercy's public juridic person. She was president and chief executive of Mercy from 1986 to 1999.
Britton also has received the Missouri Hospital Association's Distinguished Service Award and Modern Healthcare's CEO IT Achievement Award. Becker's Hospital Review has named him one of its 100 Great Healthcare Leaders to Know.