Sandra Bruce, FACHE
Sandra Bruce is the President and CEO of Presence Health, the newly-named
healthcare system formed by the November 1, 2011 merger of Provena Health and
Resurrection Health Care, headquartered in Chicago and Mokena, IL. Prior to being
named President and CEO, she had served as President and Chief Executive Officer
of Resurrection Health Care Corporation since November 2008. Prior to that
position, Sandra Bruce spent 11 years as the President and Chief Executive Officer
of Trinity Health’s Saint Alphonsus Health System, headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With locations in Chicago and its collar counties as well as in East-Central Illinois,
Sandra Bruce leads the largest Catholic healthcare system in Illinois, encompassing
12 hospitals, 29 long-term care and senior residential facilities, numerous outpatient services, clinics,
home health services, hospice, private duty, a comprehensive behavioral health network and an
accredited university. Sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Servants of the Holy
Heart of Mary, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and the
Sisters of the Resurrection, Presence Health employs 22,000 people with 4,000 physicians on its medical
staffs.
At Resurrection Health Care, Sandra Bruce led a substantial financial turnaround of the organization that
significantly improved financial performance during the past year and secured new bonds with favorable
interest rates to refinance existing debt. Under her leadership, Resurrection developed a visionary
strategic plan, implemented initiatives for more cost-effective, streamlined operations, advanced its
dedication to quality care and appointed medical staff members to key leadership roles for greater
physician involvement. She renewed Resurrection’s dedication to the communities by identifying and
addressing community need and building relationships with elected officials and community leaders.
Sandra Bruce is the former President and CEO of Mercy General Health Partners in Muskegon,
Michigan. She began her health career at Berrien General Hospital, where she later became Chief
Executive Officer.
An immediate past chair of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association of the United
States, she is also past chair of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association and the Idaho Hospital
Association. In Idaho, she served on the Governor’s Health Quality Planning Commission and is a past
member of the American Hospital Association Region VIII and Region V Policy Boards. She was one
of five hospital CEO members of the American Hospital Association’s 25-member Commission on
Workforce, and chaired the AHA Section for Aging and Long Term Care Services.
She is a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives, a member of the American College
of Health Care Administrators. She also currently serves on the American Hospital Healthcare System
Governing Council, the Catholic Health Association Awards Committee, the Illinois Hospital
Association Governing Board, the Illinois Hospital Association Policy Council and the Illinois Hospital
Association Health Reform Task Force. In 2009, she was appointed to the Commission on a High
Performance Health System (The Commonwealth Fund) to help shape health reform.
In 2011, Sandra Bruce was named one of the nation’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern
Healthcare magazine and was honored with an award in Rome, Italy from the Pontifical Council for the
Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. She holds a master’s degree in health administration from
the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.