Ann Abad to serve as Missouri Baptist Medical Center president

Ann Abad has accepted the role of Missouri Baptist Medical Center president, effective Dec. 3.

Abad has been with BJC for the past 17 years, serving most recently as president of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital since 2019. During her three years leading BJWCH, she led the team’s significant growth of diagnostic and short-stay surgical and medical care, made possible in large part by the new replacement hospital. Alongside the focus on growth, she also helped to strengthen patient safety, quality and experience, leading to Top Performer status by Vizient each year.

During the pandemic, she was an integral part of the BJC Incident Command, co-leading the Advance Planning team with Chris Watts. This past summer, she championed the opening of BJWCH’s Surgery Center on Ballas Road, providing the community a friendly, convenient place to receive ophthalmology and ENT care. Through her leadership and planning, BJWCH will open its fourth-floor inpatient unit in early 2023, bringing its total beds from 68 to 100.

Prior to her role as president at BJWCH, Abad served as the vice president of operations for Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Progress West Hospital, where she led the operational and strategic development for BJC's St. Charles County hospitals for eight years. In that role, she was instrumental in developing multiple physician alignment strategies, working with private, BJC Medical Group and Washington University School of Medicine physicians. She played a key role in the Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Siteman Cancer Center expansion, in partnership with Washington University. She also co-led the optimization of primary care access for new and existing patients as one of the BJC strategic action items.

Abad joined BJC in 2005, first as a strategic planning manager with BJC Medical Group, then as director, and eventually vice president of strategic planning for BJC HealthCare. As the vice president of strategic planning, she developed growth and capital projections for BJC’s 10-year financial model and led hospital and system-wide planning. She earned her MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Purdue University.

"We will immediately post the Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital president role internally and hope to identify the new hospital president in the very near future," said Bob Cannon, BJC group president.

Added Joan Magruder, BJC group president, "We look forward to Ann joining Missouri Baptist Medical Center as we say farewell to John Antes, current president, who leaves us Dec. 2 for his new role as CEO for Southern Illinois Healthcare, a member of the BJC Collaborative."

As Abad begins to transition into her new role, Lisa Lochner, Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital president, will report directly to Joan Magruder, BJC group president.