HJNO Mar/Apr 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAR / APR 2024 11 ONE on ONE St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan M. Coffman has a demonstrated track record improving quality, safety, patient experience, and operating performance as well as passion for improving overall health and quality of life in her community while providing exceptional healthcare value in the hospitals she has led. Prior to joining STHS in 2018, Joan served as president and CEO of HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital, part of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS). HSHS is a multi-institutional healthcare system that cares for patients in 14 communities in Illinois andWisconsin. She previously served as president and CEO of HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, joining the organization in 2008. Originally fromNewOrleans, Joan worked with Tenet Healthcare Corporation as assistant administrator of Lindy Boggs Medical Center until 2005 when it closed due to flood damage sustained in Hurricane Katrina. She also served as CEO of the Louisiana Clinic, a multi-specialty physician clinic in New Orleans. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Orleans and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Joan Coffman, FACHE President and CEO, St. Tammany Health System Dianne Hartley, Editor Thank you for taking time out of your schedule today, Joan. Could you please tell us a little about yourself and explain why you chose healthcare as a career? Joan Coffman, FACHE My career started as an X-ray technician. Mom was a registered nurse, and she died at 91. As I think back as to what was going on at that time, there were not a lot of women going into the workforce. But my father supported her 110% and encouraged all of us — they had four girls — to follow our dreams in whatever path that set us into. My daddy was an entrepreneur. He and his two brothers owned a True Value hardware store in Metairie called Moffat Brothers Hardware. So, mom gave me the desire to enter healthcare, and daddy gave me the vision to really experience the business side of things. In my career, I've been able to marry the two. I started as an X-ray tech in training at Ochsner Health on the South Shore back in the early '80s. And just a quick fun fact, my very first job as an X-ray tech was here at St. Tammany Parish Hospital at the time. Editor You came home. Coffman I did. I was able to come home and certainly never in a million years dreamed that, as an X-ray tech many years ago, I would come back to lead such a flagship organization. I feel very honored to be able to do that. When I look at my background, I feel very blessed to have been a CEO of a multi-spe- cialty clinic. It was a for-profit based out of New Orleans with a footprint across the state. I've been in for-profit, not-for-profit, faith-based, and now a quasi-governmental entity. So, I've covered the spectrum. Editor Can you share St. Tammany's mission and vision and elaborate on how it aligns with the needs of Covington, Northshore, and the New Orleans communities? Coffman When I started in July 2018 here at St. Tammany Health System, the board had 27 different initiatives, one of which was to look at the mission, vision, and values and make sure they seemed relevant for today. So, I did just that, and we did recreate, or reimagine if you will, both our mission and our vision back in 2019, celebrating at that time 65 years of service here in the community. Now, when you think about St. Tammany Health System, we really feel like we have become, in the 70 years that we'll celebrate this year, the heartbeat of our community, embedded in the very fabric of our com- munity, caring for our patients and their