Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas hires new COO

Mike Mudd has joined Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers as chief operations officer (COO). Mudd joins Mercy from his previous role as COO of service lines for Rochester Regional Health in Rochester, N.Y.

According to a Thursday (Sept. 15) news release, Mudd supervised the operational leadership of multiple service lines for the five-hospital Rochester system, managing physician relations and working closely with nursing leadership. He will work with Mercy Hospitals Arkansas President Ryan Gehrig to drive the hospital’s organizational vision, operational strategy and day-to-day operations.

“Mike is a proven leader whose core values and dedication to providing the highest quality of patient care stood out in the search process,” Gehrig said in a statement. “Mike also brings the operational expertise and background needed as we embark on our $500 million expansion plan for Northwest Arkansas.”

Mudd, his wife Caitlin, and their two children are excited about relocating to Northwest Arkansas.

“My family and I couldn’t be happier to be part of this incredible community, and to do that as part of Mercy NWA makes it even more special,” Mudd said in the news release. “There is so much opportunity and work to be done with this new phase of expansion already underway. Mercy’s vision of a future with increased access to high-quality, lower-cost health care is inspiring, and I am fortunate to join this dedicated team as we work together to make that happen.”

Mudd has previously worked as COO for Community Health Systems hospitals in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Jackson, Miss., and in other administrative roles in healthcare systems in his hometown of Louisville, Ky. He started at Mercy on Sept. 12.