Mercy's Steele takes job in Arkansas

After a year in the post, Mercy Hospital Springfield President Dr. Robert Steele is returning to Arkansas to work for the hospital his dad served as a doctor, Mercy announced in an afternoon news release.

Steele has accepted the position of chief strategy officer at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Ark., and his last day working for Mercy is scheduled May 2, the release said. Mercy Central Region President Jon Swope, who Steele succeeded as president, will serve as interim president during the transition.

“I love Mercy, and I have really enjoyed my time here. But when an offer came to work alongside a childhood friend, in a city I consider to be ‘home’ – and where my wife has family – I just couldn’t turn it down,” Steele said in the release.

According to the release, Steele spent summers conducting research in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital lab, and his dad worked there as a pediatric infectious disease doctor.
Steele was the first physician to dually serve in the president’s role in the Springfield hospital’s 123-year history.

Springfield Business Journal selected Steele for its annual 12 People You Need to Know editorial series, and Editor Eric Olson is scheduled to interview Steele on April 15 at Hilton Garden Inn. Steele also was named to SBJ’s Men of the Year class in 2013, the year he was appointed president of Mercy Hospital Springfield.

Dr. Alan Scarrow will continue his role as president of Mercy Clinic Springfield, and Jay Guffey will continue to lead as senior vice president and chief operating officer for Mercy Hospital Springfield, according to the release.