2025 Most Influential Women: Ashley Casad

Demonstrating leadership has been key during Ashley Casad’s relatively brief career in health care, the last five years of which have been at CoxHealth.

Following a stint with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Casad now serves as senior vice president at the health system and president of CoxHealth Springfield hospitals, a promotion she received in 2023 after serving three years as CoxHealth vice president of clinical services. She currently oversees more than 4,000 staff members, manages an annual budget exceeding $1 billion and supports hundreds of thousands of patient encounters every year.

“In the past two years in my role, I’ve engaged my team to take on many challenging operational projects, which health systems across the country struggle to drive improvement in,” she says, noting examples such as driving meaningful decreases in length of stay for patients and implementing a new unit that has improved emergency department wait time.

Casad is among CoxHealth leaders who have played a key role in the new partnership with St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine to expand pediatric services in southwest Missouri, an agreement that was formalized this past summer. She’s also been involved in the partnership between CoxHealth and Pennsylvania-based Select Medical Holdings Corp. to bring a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital to Ozark.

“For both of these joint ventures, I helped develop this strategic structure and objectives of the partnerships, and for both I am the leader responsible for executing the implementation of the vision,” she says.

Casad also recognizes the importance of mentorship, noting she works with several CoxHealth leaders to help coach and guide them in their careers.

“As a mother of three young children, I’m especially passionate about mentoring individuals who are also balancing being present parents while growing their careers,” she says.

Sally Hargis, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. chair and vice president, says she’s known Casad since she joined CoxHealth and moved to Springfield in 2020.

“She leads with heart, strategy and a relentless commitment to excellence,” Hargis says, noting Casad “embodies a spirit of service and community advocacy.”

Casad says she’s passionate about giving back to the community, with service including the past four years on the board of Ozarks Food Harvest Inc. Additionally, she was appointed by the American Cancer Society as a co-chair of the 2025 Cattle Baron’s Ball of Southwest Missouri, held Sept. 13. This year’s event raised $1,024,000 – an all-time high, according to ACS officials.