E.J. Kuiper New President And CEO Of CHI Health
CHI St. Alexius Health is pleased to announce that E.J. Kuiper is the new CEO of CHI Health and President of CommonSpirit Health’s Midwest Division. Monday, Jan. 17, Kuiper began providing strategic leadership and overall operational oversight to the health system’s 28 hospitals, two stand-alone behavioral health centers, and more than 150 employed physician practices in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota. CHI St. Alexius Health is part of CHI Health, the Midwest Division of CommonSpirit Health which includes locations in North Dakota, eastern Minnesota, Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
Kuiper comes to CHI Health with significant health care experience, most recently serving as president and CEO at Hospital Sisters Health System Illinois--a nine-hospital division totaling more than 1,150 acute care beds. He received his bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the Academy for Physical Therapy in the Netherlands; a master’s degree in health science, health services administration from Florida Gulf Coast University; and a doctor of physical therapy degree from St. Augustine University.
Kuiper’s commitment and the health systems’ mission–transforming health care and building healthy communities–align. With a comprehensive approach to team building and collaborative problem solving, Kuiper hopes to further strengthen, engage and empower the health systems’ 16,000+ employees who he says are instrumental for growth and success.
“I believe that as a health care system, our most precious asset is our people,” Kuiper says. “Without a highly engaged workforce, our hospitals, our clinics, our office buildings are just real estate.”
Kuiper’s top priority in life and work, from starting out as a staff physical therapist to CEO, remains kindness. “We are all in this together. Genuine and sometimes random gestures of kindness and love can make such a difference in someone’s day,” he says. “It is so important that we create a caring environment in which humankindness is evident from the moment our patients enter our facilities.”
When asked about the challenges presented by the pandemic today, he says, “Without a doubt, the biggest challenge is the significant strain on our health care workers. Whether directly at the bedside or a few steps away supporting caregivers behind the scenes, everyone has felt the impact of the pandemic. Turnover in health care across the nation is too high, engagement levels are too low and too many of us feel burned out. Working on workforce wellness at CHI Health will be my focus going forward.”