Mercy hires new rehab hospital CEO

Mercy Springfield Communities announced Tuesday it hired a new CEO for its local rehabilitation hospital.

Bruce Eady, who officially started Nov. 30, comes to Mercy from Saint Louis University Hospital, where he worked as associate administrator of capacity management, according to a news release.

Eady succeeds Jerry Wise, who left for a job as vice president of finance with Kindred Healthcare, a partner of Mercy’s rehab hospital. Wise took over in early 2015 for founding rehab hospital CEO Duke Saldivar, who exited the job to become chief executive of Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospital in Texas, said Mercy spokeswoman Sonya Kullman.

A graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, Eady trained as a critical care and trauma nurse. For the past 30 years, he’s held leadership roles, including for the Howard A. Rusk Rehabilitation Center, a partnership in Columbia between HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital and the University of Missouri.

“I’m a nurse at heart; I always will be,” Eady said in the release. “What I’ve always seen in working with faith-based hospitals is a strong mission that emphasizes serving others. Mercy’s partnership with Kindred focuses on delivering that mission of caring to the rehab setting.”

Mercy's $28 million, 63,000-square-foot rehab hospital opened in early 2014 at 5904 S. Southwood Road. Adjacent to the health system’s orthopedic hospital, the center provides rehab services for patients recovering from strokes, brain or spinal cord injuries, amputations and severe orthopedic injuries.