Banner Good Samaritan CEO Steve Seiler set to retire in January
PHOENIX (October 5, 2004) – Steven L. Seiler, CEO of Banner Good Samaritan since June 1992, announced that he retire from his position effective January 11, 2005.
“While we honor and celebrate Steve’s impressive legacy of accomplishments and his passion for excellent patient care, we’re also saddened by his impending departure,” said Susan Edwards, president, Banner Health’s Arizona Region.
“Steve’s stewardship and leadership across a wide spectrum of areas has been instrumental in maintaining and enhancing Banner Good Samaritan’s role as a leading and highly specialized medical center in Arizona.”
Seiler joined Banner Health as CEO of Banner Good Samaritan in 1992. His ability to relate to physicians has served as a model for the entire Banner Health executive team, and his friendly, open nature has been greatly appreciated by employees at all levels in the hospital.
Edwards added that Seiler has shown unrelenting advocacy to creating healing environments throughout the hospital. “One needs only to walk through the just-completed $90 million construction and renovation project at Banner Good Samaritan to appreciate the impact of his leadership in this area,” Edwards said.
Seiler got his start in health care with a college summer job mowing lawns at Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, Ill. George Caldwell, the hospital CEO, saw Seiler mowing lawns and asked him what he was going to do with his life. A business major at the University of Arizona, Seiler said he was interested in management.
Caldwell asked Seiler if he had ever considered hospital administration.
"He gave me a break," said Seiler, who 12 years later succeeded Caldwell as CEO of that institution. In total, Seiler spent 40 years in hospital administration, including positions at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago; Voluntary Hospitals of America, Lake Forest, Ill., and Irving, Texas, before joining Banner Good Samaritan in 1992. He also obtained his M.S. in Hospital & Healthcare Administration from the University of Iowa.
Seiler has been active in several community efforts, donating his time and serving on boards such as Ear Foundation of Arizona; Phoenix Community Alliance; Junior Achievement of Arizona, Inc.; United Blood Systems, Inc.; American College of Healthcare Executives; Economic Club of Phoenix; Economic Club of Chicago; and Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.
Over the years, he has mentored hospital administration students, many of whom now run large hospitals. At 63, Seiler plans to begin a new career in health care consulting. He named his company, Windpines Group, LLC.
Seiler and his wife of 41 years, Pam, plan to continue their involvement with several community groups, including Junior Achievement of Arizona and the Ear Foundation of Arizona. The couple have three daughters and three granddaughters.
“I’d like to think that my time here has made an imprint on the people who are here about the importance of the business we’re in and the compassion and caring that health care is all about,” Seiler said.
Located in downtown Phoenix, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care since 1911, and is a flagship hospital within Banner Health. Licensed with over 625 inpatient beds, Banner Good Samaritan is a teaching hospital that trains more than 220 physicians annually. Today, nearly more than 1,700 physicians representing nearly 50 specialties work with Banner Good Samaritan staff to provide care to more than 36,000 inpatients each year.
Contact:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
(602) 239-4411
