After serving as interim president and CEO of Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Milwaukee campus,
Daniel Jackson will take on the top leadership role for
Ascension Wisconsin.
Ascension announced late last week that Jackson, who joined Ascension’s ranks in March, had been selected to serve as vice president and ministry market executive of Ascension Wisconsin, assuming
Bernie Sherry’s former leadership role.
Sherry left the organization earlier this year.
Jackson will continue to serve in his role as president and CEO for Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s while a search for his replacement takes place.
“I am proud and humbled to be chosen to lead Ascension Wisconsin and the exceptional, talented and dedicated leaders and associates who have been providing compassionate, personalized, high-quality care to our communities for more than a century,” Jackson said. “I’m excited to take on these new responsibilities and am committed to protecting and improving health care for all in Wisconsin.”
Before joining Ascension Wisconsin, Jackson served as CEO of Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital, part of Tenet Healthcare and the largest of the eight hospitals that comprise Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Daniel joined DMC in 2019 after serving as chief administrative officer at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center South, then part of the largest health system in Georgia.
“Daniel has done an exceptional job in his interim leadership role, engaging associates and providers in collaborative work to strengthen operations and ensure the sustainability of the Wisconsin ministry and its mission,” said
Sally Deitch, executive vice president, nursing and operations infrastructure and regional operating officer for Ascension Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. “He’s a results-oriented leader with integrity and proven abilities in healthcare administration.”
Matthew Hanselman, who had been serving as interim ministry market executive over the past few months, will continue to serve in his role as chief financial officer for Ascension Wisconsin.
The announcement of Jackson’s new role comes about four months after a
leadership restructuring within the network. That restructuring saw the departures of Sherry, Monical Hilt, who served as chief operating officer; Marcia Lysaght, former chief nursing officer; Beth O’Laire, former chief HR executive and Caryn Kaufman, former communications lead.
At the time, Ascension said it was dividing leadership responsibilities for Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Milwaukee and Ozaukee campuses.
“Ascension Wisconsin is restructuring its leadership structure and team to concentrate leadership resources at the facility-level, within key sites of care, to enable increased focus on clinical quality, appropriate staffing, and support of caregivers and associates,” the organization said in a March news release.
Ascension is one of the largest private health care systems in the United States. This spring’s leadership shakeup came as its Wisconsin subsidiary was experiencing turmoil, including a Milwaukee Magazine report that said dozens of doctors, nurses, and surgeons had left Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s, creating staff shortages that were undermining care at the East Side hospital.
