1515 Main Street
Highland, Illinois 62249
618-651-2600
The women and men who make decisions about the future of St. Joseph’s Hospital now are more likely to be people you know. The hospital recently appointed a new board of directors, and for the first time in hospital history, members of the board primarily are residents of Highland.
St. Joseph’s Hospital is part of a Catholic health care system based in Springfield with 13 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. The hospital today is sponsored by the same congregation of religious women who founded it 130 years ago, the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. The boards of directors at the hospitals traditionally have been weighted toward greater representation from the religious congregation.
The Hospital Sisters Health System has shifted to more local representation on their boards for two reasons. First, the system wants governance of their hospitals to be transparent and inclusive.
Second, leaders acknowledge that as fewer women enter religious life, the work of maintaining Catholic health care as the healing ministry it is intended to be will increasingly become the responsibility of lay people.
The new board of directors for St. Joseph’s Hospital held its first meeting in December. Board members are:
Jim Burgett, superintendent of Highland Schools from 1992 to 2004. Today, he is an author, consultant and public speaker. Burgett is beginning his first term at St. Joseph’s Hospital but has been a member of the hospital’s advisory council since 2001.
Roger Fulton, M.D., president of Highland Physicians, Ltd. He is board-certified in internal medicine and has been a member of the St. Joseph’s Hospital medical staff since 1984. Fulton has served as a medical staff officer or chairman of a medical committee throughout his tenure and has been a member of the board of directors since 2001. The board elected Fulton as secretary as its first meeting.
Thomas Hill, attorney. Hill has practiced law in Highland for morethan 30 years. He is past president of the Madison County Bar Association, Highland Chamber of Commerce and Highland Rotary Club. He has been a member of St. Joseph’s Board of Directors since 1996. Hill was elected board chairman.
Bonnie McGinley, who with her husband operates an automobile and motorsports franchise in Highland. She is a past president of the Friends of St. Joseph Foundation as well as past president of the Highland Chamber of Commerce and Highland City Council. She also is a member of the board of directors of Highland Area Community Foundation. She is a new member of the hospital board.
Adrian Rogier, president of Rogier Insurance Agency, Inc., and Southern Underwriter’s Agency, Inc. This is Rogier’s ninth year on the board of directors. He serves on several community boards and is a member of Highland Rotary. The board elected Rogier as vice-chairman.
Bill Sullivan, president of Highland Machine. He is beginning his first term on the board of directors but has been a member of the Friends of St. Joseph’s Foundation since 2001 and chair of the Friends board since 2004.
Also on the board are three vowed religious women who together bring decades of experience in both clinical health care and health care leadership. They are Sr. Josepha Schaeffer, OSF, Sr. Josine Mondloch, OSF, and Sr. Marybeth Culnan, OSF.
New members say they are eager to begin. “I have served for years on the hospital’s Advisory Council and know how important a good hospital is for our community,” Burgett said. “ I want to do my part in providing outstanding medical services in a hospital we can proudly call our own.”
McGinley said she sees her role on the board as threefold. “One, I want to bring information and suggestions to each meeting that I have heard from citizens of Highland. Two, I want to help in any way I can implement necessary changes. And three, I want to spread the word in the community about the positive changes as we make them.”