New COO named for Mercy Fort Smith

Mercy Fort Smith has a new chief operating officer. Ryan Geib, of Pensacola, Fla., joined the hospital Jan. 6, replacing Juli Stec as the COO. Stec moved to vice president of operations for the organization.

Geib, a native of Kentucky, served as the assistant administrator for HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. He previously worked as HCA’s director of facility management in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and as senior director of facility operations for King’s Daughters’ Health in Madison, Ind.

“I was initially drawn to Mercy Fort Smith because of the chance to lead a high-performing faith-based organization and what it stood for, and the opportunity to put down roots inside the community and be a part of something,” Geib said in a media release. “A week into this, and I firmly believe this was the right decision. The people have been very welcoming here.”

Geib said he plans to focus on continuing the efforts toward community outreach and extending efforts in the area’s more rural communities.

“We’re finding ways to strengthen the outreach that we’re already doing while developing new methods of doing so, and I think continuing to evaluate and implement easy access for our patients in rural communities,” Geib said. “The first mission of a hospital is to deliver high-quality care to patients inside the four walls, but with coming here and seeing it, over the first week, you see how tightly interwoven Mercy’s mission is in the community, too.”

He said the new Mercy Rehabilitation Fort Smith at Chaffee Crossing, which is scheduled to open early next year, is a “big win” for patients in the Fort Smith area and physician recruitment is key to bringing a higher level of care to Mercy patients.