Catie Sheehan has joined Memorial Health as the vice president of marketing and communications. In this role, she will oversee marketing and internal and external communications for Memorial’s five hospitals, outpatient clinics and system operations.
Sheehan most recently served as the deputy director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, but has an extensive background in healthcare, including several roles with Hospital Sister Health System and serving as the executive director of marking and communications for the Southern Illinois University System Office.
“It was such a fun opportunity,” Sheehan said of her time with the Office of Tourism, “but when this job at Memorial came up, I really thought that I was feeling the call to get back into healthcare.”
“When I left healthcare in 2023, I was really in the mindset of seeking new opportunities. I had been at HSHS for seven-and-a-half years, and I loved my time there, but the pandemic was hard and I thought that I wanted to explore some other opportunities professionally. I’ve had a great opportunity to do that over the last few years.”
Sheehan said her new role with Memorial will be very similar to what she did at HSHS, with the exception of not being involved in government relations. She also noted that Memorial Health is “more directly in central Illinois,” with five hospitals in this area. She said HSHS had “15 hospitals spread across two states” during her time there, now 13 following the 2024 closure of two hospitals in western Wisconsin.
“I learned that I felt most professional and personally connected to working in healthcare and wanted to see if there was an opportunity for me to do that in the future,” Sheehan said. “I met a lot of the new leaders at Memorial and it felt like a really good fit.”
“Sometimes it takes leaving to realize what you really want,” she said. “It feels really good to be back in healthcare. I feel very aligned with the work.”