Mattoon native Kim Uphoff has been named president & CEO of Sarah Bush Lincoln. She will assume the role at the end of July when current President & CEO Jerry Esker retires.
Sarah Bush Lincoln Board of Directors Chairperson Tina Stovall said, “We were so pleased to offer the position to Kim. She grew up in Mattoon and has a deep fondness for Sarah Bush Lincoln, and that, coupled with her strategic knowledge of healthcare, will propel this growing organization.”
The executive leadership of the board engaged Arthur A Gallagher, an executive recruitment firm, to lead the search in January. It created a profile of Sarah Bush Lincoln and talked at length with employees and medical staff to determine qualities of the future president. After interviewing Uphoff, Gallagher highly recommended her and said “It is in the organization’s best interest to name Kim Uphoff as the next CEO. She has all the key qualifications.”
Uphoff said, “I have great personal ‘ownership’ of Sarah Bush Lincoln and of its future. I am confident that we can continue to move the organization forward to ensure access to care for our community and to remain a strong, independent healthcare system. I am honored to have been selected to lead this mighty organization.”
Esker added, “I have worked alongside Kim for many years and I have complete and total confidence in her abilities. She mapped a path for us, which has taken us to where we are today. Strategically, she is the brightest I have worked with, and her authenticity resonates with our employees and medical staff. I am leaving the organization with comfort that its future is in great hands.”
Uphoff has served as the chief operating officer since 2017 in which she had oversight of the hospital operations including Diagnostic Imaging, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Services, Facilities Services, Environmental Services, Security, Food & Nutrition Services, Wellness, Healthy Communities, Communications and Marketing, Planning and Business Development and the SBL Foundation. She was instrumental in the implementation and continuation of the organization’s service culture, Excellence A Way of Life; as well as established long-range strategic plans with the executive team and the board of directors.
In 2011, Uphoff was named vice president of Development with oversight of the Health Foundation, Planning, Business Development, Communications, Facilities Services and construction projects, and lead the organization in strategic, facility and fund development. She was first named vice president of Health Foundation in 2010. During those 12 years in leadership, she enhanced the culture of philanthropy by completing an $8 million capital campaign, $3.5 million oncology campaign and achieving $2 million annually in total giving. She planned, executed and oversaw construction of the $15.6 million Regional Cancer Center and $30 million Heart Center and bed expansion project.
Uphoff came to Sarah Bush Lincoln in 1998 as the director of Planning and Business Development. She started her career as vice president of Communications at Lincolnland Visiting Nurse Association.
She is a graduate of the University of Illinois and has a Master’s of Science degree in Health Services Administration from University of Saint Francis, Joliet. She and her husband, Bill, have two adult children, and are farmers predominately south of Mattoon.