“It’s all about solving the problem”: Mercyhealth CEO Javon Bea on work ethic, hospital reform, and excellence in nursing

Javon Bea, the president and CEO of Mercyhealth, talks with Incredible Health CEO Iman Abuzeid about his first jobs in health — mopping the floors and restocking cigarette machines, at a hospital that is now named after him. They also discuss how he turned around Mercyhealth beginning in the late 1980s, presaging a now-common model of integrated community health systems.

Bea’s reforms, while not without their challenges, led to President George W. Bush awarding him the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in the Oval Office. So where does his work ethic come from, and what mistakes has he made along the way? Listen to the new episode to learn those things and more.

This interview was recorded in April 2021.

Incredible Health Care Leaders is produced by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm. Theme music courtesy of Purple Planet Music.

Incredible Health is an award-winning, rapidly-growing hiring marketplace that helps hospitals hire permanent, experienced nurses in 20 days or less. Learn more at www.incrediblehealth.com