Rick Conklin (left in picture) retires after serving as president of Parkland Health Center for 12 years. Conklin has been with BJC HealthCare and its predecessor for 25 years, and will continue working part time as part of BJC's evidence-based design team. He and his wife, Donna, will continue to live in the Parkland community.

Long-time administrator Tom Karl succeeds Conklin as president. Karl served at Parkland Health Center as chief financial officer since 1985, and most recently as assistant administrator.

Under Conklin's leadership, Parkland Health Center has had many significant accomplishments. To better serve the community, Parkland opened a new, expanded Emergency Department, serving as a prototype for the next Emergency Departments to be built in the BJC system. In addition, six new private OB rooms were recently added. New outpatient services created in recent years include a diabetic care center, a wound clinic complete with hyperbaric chamber and an infusion center.  During Conklin's years the Hospital developed a full-time chaplaincy program, a Senior Support Center for inpatient psychiatric care for those 55 and older, the Surgery Center of Farmington and the OASIS older adult wellness program. Conklin is also responsible for expanding Parkland's oncology/hematology department and completely remodeling all Hospital facilities.

"If you're going to run a hospital, you've got to deliver excellent quality. We have consistently developed programs that give employees the tools to deliver quality services," says Conklin.

Two major in-house programs were started while Conklin was president; Journey to Excellence which emphasizes in employees a passion for extraordinary service through compassion, optimism, integrity and loyalty; and Relationship Based Care, which involves the patient in designing their care with a primary nurse every day while in the hospital.

"Parkland Health Center has been fortunate to have had the benefit of Rick's experienced leadership," says Joyce Wood, chairperson of Parkland Health Center's board of directors. "He helped to build an administrative team that led the efforts that resulted in our having been chosen as one of Modern Healthcare's Top 100 Hospitals. His experience in the BJC System and his mentoring of Tom Karl has positioned the Hospital well to meet the challenges of the current health care environment. He has worked to benefit from the talent of our board and has helped us become better informed about the healthcare industry. I know he will continue to be a valuable asset to BJC HealthCare in his new position."

Before becoming president, Karl was responsible for the financial operations of the Hospital, and oversaw a number of departments.

Karl was directly involved in several key events in Parkland's history including the merger of Farmington Community Hospital and Bonne Terre Hospital that formed Parkland Health Center in 1992. Karl has been a volunteer member of Parkland's chaplaincy team for 13 years.

"It's been a great privilege to have been able to work along side the caliber of people I've been associated with here over the last 23 years," says Karl. "The medical staff and employees that make up the Parkland family are a very compassionate group of people that have dedicated their careers to taking care of others, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to continue to be a part of such a great, successful team."

"Tom Karl has been an outstanding CFO and I look forward to working with Tom and the new administrative team that has been assembled to further strengthen our local healthcare options," says Wood. "Tom is well respected throughout BJC HealthCare, as well as in our local community, and I have the utmost confidence that he will continue to improve the health care in our local communities."