Mercy appoints new VP of mission

Mercy Springfield Communities has filled its vice president of mission role, which helps guide the organization’s ethics, spiritual care and Catholic mission initiatives.

Keith Schaefer, who has more than 15 years of experience at Mercy, officially started today in the VP role. He succeeds Bill Hennessey, a longtime Mercy staffer who retired earlier this month. 

Schaefer brings a background of clinical health care to the role, and he most recently served as director of mission integration.

"It's an incredible, amazing privilege," Schaefer said. "It's a bit of a daunting responsibility to carry on something that is nearly 135 years old in this community."

Schaefer said he additionally has big shoes to fill in succeeding Hennessey, a well-known Mercy figure in the community.

"Bill was such a unique bearer of light," Schaefer said. "I've been able to learn from that example and to grow in that and look forward to just continuing and building on the success and integration that Bill had with our community."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Schaefer has additional experience as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve. He's served in the past as a paramedic and a critical care staff nurse.