Staci Lucius (pictured above, right) envisioned a life in health care from the age of 14, when she volunteered at her local hospital. She saw people at some of their most vulnerable times, and she sought to use her skills to support those providing care.
Staci eventually met her goal — earning a master’s in health care administration — and now serves as president of our ministry’s medical group and physician services. She started this position in 2017 and the idea of being a woman in this role that may traditionally be held by men is not lost on her.
“I’ve focused my career on building my skills and merit,” Staci says. “I’ve let my work speak for itself. And it’s been recognized. I believe we owe it to ourselves, our health system and our patients to help mine and develop the talent of other women into leadership roles.”
Staci is just one example of a leader empowered to grow within our ministry.
Female leaders like Staci represent more than 51 percent of our top leaders and are responsible for leading and establishing our key components of our ministry’s strategy.
Staci also serves as a mentor to a young female professional – another way our ministry supports the development of tomorrow’s executive women. Through mentoring, Staci believes she’s learning as much from her mentee as she hopes her mentee is learning from her.
“It’s been very rewarding and has helped me build a relationship with someone I wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise,” Staci shares. “I have the opportunity to help guide and develop her knowledge and experiences and be a source of feedback. This helps prepare her for the next stage of her career.”
Recently, our ministry was recognized in the top 10 of 2022’s Top Companies for Executive Women by Seramount, a strategic professional services and research firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
We were also recognized by Seramount as one of 2022’s Top Companies for Multicultural Women for our commitment to advancing the careers of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and multicultural women in our workplace.
Sandra Mackey (pictured above, left), our chief marketing officer, applauds our ministry’s authentic approach to diversity, equity and inclusion, and sees it from the very top down.
“After the death of George Floyd in 2020, CEO John Starcher was among the first to speak out. He fostered an environment of open discussion and set the tone,” Sandra recalls. “This commitment is rooted in our ministry’s values – especially those of human dignity and compassion. We commit to uphold the sacredness of life and to be respectful and inclusive of everyone.”
Our commitment also shows up in how we support our employees. Sandra has encouraged participation in Connected Leaders: Management Accelerator Program, a 24-week leadership development cohort offered by our ministry. This program expanded to include Asian American and Hispanic leaders and in 2021, more than 50 Black executives and managers participated.
“As a woman of color, I take great pride in working for a ministry that is dedicated to diversity and inclusion,” Sandra says. She also personally serves as a mentor to others within our ministry.
We continue to improve and open leadership and career pathways to ensure our employees are developing and can qualify for open leadership positions. We’ve also allocated funds for sourcing women- and minority-owned businesses to achieve goals set for our supplier diversity programs.
“Our commitment to inclusion strengthens our organization by helping us better connect to our patients, communities, partners and ourselves, so we can fulfill our mission,” Odesa Stapleton, our chief diversity and inclusion officer, says.
We hope to continue to help all women – including multicultural women – advance in their career and to grow, to be well, to prosper and to shine, all core tenants of our ministry.
Learn more about our mission at Mercy Health.
