Damond W. Boatwright has been hired as president and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System. He will start in this role in June 2021, succeeding the current president and CEO of HSHS, Mary Starmann-Harrison, who retires in July after serving in this role for the past decade.
Boatwright will be relocating to the Springfield area from Madison, Wisconsin. He currently serves as regional president for SSM Health Wisconsin, a role he has served in since 2014. Prior to that, Boatwright served in various leadership roles at Hospital Corporation of America from 2001 to 2013. His career at HCA took him to hospitals in Virginia, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, serving in executive leadership roles with increasing responsibilities.
“Damond’s leadership record at HCA and SSM is exemplary,” said Bill Murray, chairman of the HSHS board of directors. “I am confident he will provide the leadership needed to help HSHS continue working through the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Damond is committed to moving HSHS forward as an integrated health care ministry, ensuring that high-quality health care is accessible to all our communities.”
Boatwright is originally from Charleston, South Carolina. Though he once aspired to become a physician, he earned his bachelor of science in business administration at The Citadel in Charleston in 1994. It was a chance meeting with a Citadel alum who worked in health care administration that led Boatwright to pursue a career in healthcare.
“‘Every good and perfect gift is from above,’ James 1:17. I’m truly humbled and appreciative of this wonderful gift to be part of the HSHS family,” said Boatwright. “The opportunity to be a servant leader and help continue to lead our ministries into the future is truly a blessing. We are going to be stronger together.”
Boatwright and his wife, Makeba Williams, MD, have two children named Damond Jeremiah (DJ), 9, and Shelby Ruth, 7. Makeba is a physician who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology. In their spare time, they like to cook and enjoy the outdoors.
