Rick Stevens
President, Christian Hospital
As president of Christian Hospital, Rick Stevens is responsible for positioning Christian Hospital as a provider of quality critical health care services in north St. Louis County. Stevens provides strategic leadership and oversees daily operations of the 485-licensed-bed hospital, as well as Northwest HealthCare located six miles west of the hospital, which offers the community 24-hour emergency care and a variety of outpatient services.
Prior to joining BJC in 2016, Stevens was with Sutter California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, where he served for four years as chief administrative officer and vice president for CPMC. He has more than 25 years of health care experience, having served in executive roles also in Texas and Kentucky. Stevens holds a master’s degree in public health from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Tennessee State University.
Under Stevens’ leadership, Christian Hospital has been ranked No. 5 in the St. Louis metro area and No. 11 in Missouri by U.S. News and World Report for 2022-23, putting Christian in the top 7% of all hospitals in the state; recognized as “high performing” in gastroenterology and GI surgery and is among only 3% of all hospitals in the nation to receive recognition in a specialty; and rated “high performing” in seven of 20 procedures and conditions – heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, diabetes, COPD, lung cancer and stroke – ranking in the top 10% nationally of all evaluated hospitals for that specialty or procedure and condition. This is the first time the hospital has ever been ranked by U.S. News & World Report in St. Louis and in the state.
Stevens has initiated and developed more than $90 million in expansions, renovations and technology, most notably Christian Hospital’s addition in 2017 of Siteman Cancer and its $26 million facility that opened on the Northwest HealthCare campus in 2019.
Physician recruitment is also strong at Christian Hospital under Stevens’ leadership, with 90 new providers added to the medical staff since 2016, including several primary care physicians, a new vascular surgeon, cardiothoracic surgeon, electrophysiologist, interventional cardiologists, plastic surgeon, colorectal surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, urologic surgeon and urologic oncologist. Christian has the second most Washington University physicians on its campus, next to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Stevens has received numerous awards throughout his health care career, including the 2022 NCCJ Lifetime Achievement Award; 2022 Freeman/Seay Commitment to St. Louis Award from the St. Louis City NAACP; 2022 North County Incorporated Leadership Award; 2022 Citizen of the Year for Omega Psi Phi 8th District; 2022 Paragon Award for the Health Category; 2022 BSA North Star District Good Scout Award; 2021 St. Louis County NAACP Community Champion Award; the 2020 Missouri Community College Association’s Distinguished Business/ Industry Award; the 2019 Stellar Performer in Health Care Award from St. Louis American Foundation; the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2017 Diverse Business Leader Award; the 2006 Louisville YMCA Black Achievers Award; Modern Healthcare’s 2005 Up and Comers Award; and the National Association of Health Services Executives’ 2002 Young Healthcare Executive Award. Stevens is a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Stevens serves on the following boards of directors: Missouri Hospital Association; American Hospital Association Regional Policy; St. Louis Metropolitan Hospital Council (past president); Logan University; University Missouri St. Louis Chancellor’s Council; North County Inc. (past chair); United Way of Greater St. Louis; KIPP St. Louis; Operation Food Search; Boys Scouts of America Greater St. Louis Area Council; Florissant Valley Kiwanis; St. Louis Economic Development Rescue Team (past chair); and Village North Retirement Community.
Stevens is married and has two children. He is a native of Rockford, Ill.