Provena St. Joseph Hospital president resigns

The president and CEO of Provena St. Joseph Hospital will be leaving at the end of the month.

William Brown, who has served in the role since 2002, has resigned to "pursue another business opportunity within the health care sector," according to a news release.

Exactly what that other business opportunity is, and just why Brown is leaving, remains unknown for now.

"I don't know anymore than you," St. Joseph board member Gordon Gromer said.

Corporate spokeswoman Lisa Lagger said that Brown has revealed no details other than he will be resigning.

"What he has shared with us was just that," she said. "That he's found his time with Provena rewarding and his desire to pursue something else."

An employee in Brown's office said Tuesday that Brown had left for the day at 3:45 p.m.

In a Tuesday afternoon news release, Brown said he was "excited about the next chapter in my career, but I will always be inspired by the caregivers that make Provena Saint Joseph Hospital the exceptional health ministry it is."

During his tenure at Provena, Brown is credited with establishing a cardiac surgery program at the hospital. noted by independent health care ratings company Healthgrades as the best in Elgin for the past four years. Brown also led the hospital's $100 million campus expansion and modernization, and planning of the Bob and Edna Meadows Regional Cancer Center.

While the hospital begins a search for a new leader, Provena Health Systems Vice President of Finance Stephen Scogna has been named to fill Brown's position in the interim.

Scogna came to Provena in May 2003, after serving as a senior vice president and chief financial officer of Frankford Health Care System in Pennsylvania. A graduate of Villanova University and certified public accountant, he is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.