News Releases

Ascension Wisconsin Leadership Changes

Ascension Wisconsin is restructuring its leadership structure and team to concentrate leadership resources at the facility-level, within key sites of care, to enable increased focus on clinical quality, appropriate staffing and support of caregivers and associates.

To best enable greater operational and clinical focus at two critical sites of care, we are dividing leadership responsibilities for our Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Milwaukee and Ozaukee campuses.

We welcome Daniel Jackson, FACHE, to Ascension Wisconsin to serve as Interim President and CEO of Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Milwaukee Campus. Daniel is a results-oriented leader with integrity and proven abilities in healthcare administration. He most recently served as CEO of Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, part of Tenet Healthcare. DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital is the largest of the eight hospitals that comprise the Detroit Medical Center, with 1,800 employees and 406 inpatient beds.

Duke Walker, MBA, MS, FACHE, will also join Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Milwaukee Campus serving as interim Chief Operating Officer. Duke is a highly accomplished healthcare leader with a proven track record in hospital operations, productivity improvement, leader engagement, physician alignment and cost reduction. As Vice President of Operations at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, he played a major role in growing key service lines and net revenue. Previously, at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Florida, he also oversaw the growth of multiple service lines. Duke holds a Master’s in Business Administration in Healthcare Management from King University, Bristol, Tennessee, and a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Central Arkansas.

A search is underway to identify a new Chief Nursing Officer for Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Milwaukee Campus.

At Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Ozaukee Campus, John Joyce will continue to serve as President and Marlly Cadavid, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC will serve as Chief Nursing Officer.

In addition to these changes, Bernie Sherry has decided to transition from his role as Ministry Market Executive of Ascension Wisconsin later this spring. We want to recognize and thank Bernie as he transitions out of his leadership role. A search is underway to identify a new market leader for Ascension Wisconsin. Bernie will work closely with the team to ensure a smooth transition.

We also want to acknowledge the contributions of Monica Hilt and Marcia Lysaght, DNP, RN, CENP, who served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer of Ascension Wisconsin, and Beth O’Laire and Caryn Kaufman, who served as the Chief HR Executive and Communications lead, as they transition from Ascension Wisconsin.

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