Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) announced today that Aaron Puchbauer (pronounced pooh-bow-er), MBA, MHA, FACHE, has accepted an invitation to serve as president and CEO of HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville (GSS). He will begin at GSS on May 15, 2017. Puchbauer has been serving as the interim president and CEO for HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield (SFL). He started with HSHS as an administrative fellow in 2009 and has been director of operations at SFL since 2011.
Aaron Puchbauer
“As both director of operations and interim president and CEO for St. Francis, Puchbauer helped facilitate the completion of a new $11.4 million surgery department addition and renovation of the emergency and maternity departments,” said EJ Kuiper, HSHS Central Illinois Division president and CEO. “During his tenure, SFL increased colleague engagement, exceeded budgeted annual operating margins for five fiscal years, and increased patient satisfaction in several areas. We know that he will bring that same leadership to Good Shepherd.”
Puchbauer received his masters of health administration, masters of business administration, (2009) and bachelor’s degree (2006) from the University of Missouri. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Puchbauer and his wife, Brittany, have three sons, and they plan to relocate to Shelbyville.
“It has long been a goal of mine to serve in a rural hospital,” Puchbauer said. “I loved growing up in a small town and knew I wanted to live in a community which would appreciate my family’s faith and ideals. My wife and I were looking for a community in which our young family could build our dreams, and I think we will find that in Shelbyville. I deeply believe in the faith-based mission of HSHS and look forward to the opportunity of serving at Good Shepherd Hospital.”
HSHS Central Illinois Division President and CEO E.J. Kuiper will serve as interim President and CEO for SFL while a nationwide search is being conducted to permanently fill that position.
