Bold, visionary leader will drive ongoing performance improvements in organ and tissue donation
ST. LOUIS (Sept. 15, 2022) – Following a national search, Kevin Lee, executive vice president and COO at Mid-America Transplant, has been selected to serve as the organization’s next president and CEO. The role will take effect on January 1, as current president and CEO Diane Brockmeier moves into a consulting role and retires in early 2023.
The board of directors for Mid-America Transplant and WittKieffer, an executive search firm with organ procurement organization (OPO) and healthcare expertise, conducted the search for the next president and CEO.
“After performing an extensive nationwide search, it was unanimously decided that Kevin would be the next CEO to lead Mid-America Transplant,” said Dr. Richard Bucholz, Mid-America Transplant board chair and professor of neurological surgery at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. “Throughout his years with our organization, Kevin has demonstrated an unyielding focus on maintaining and promoting Mid-America Transplant’s status as a visionary leader in organ transplantation and tissue procurement, and his commitment to making more organs available is unwavering. We look forward to this next phase of the organization under his leadership.”
Lee will step into the CEO role with more than 25 years of experience leading strategic initiatives in health care and education, including executive roles at Mercy Health and Loyola Academy of St. Louis. He joined Mid-America Transplant in 2015 as the executive director of the Mid-America Transplant Foundation and advanced to hold roles as vice president of community engagement and chief organ operations officer. During this time, the Mid-America Transplant team achieved tremendous growth in organ donation, including a 24% increase in organ donors and 27% increase in families who said yes to donation.
“Kevin has an unwavering passion for our mission and compassion for all those touched by donation, which is paramount for our next CEO,” said Diane Brockmeier, president and CEO at Mid-America Transplant. “He also is a bright, dynamic leader who mobilizes people, sets ambitious goals and makes them happen. I have the utmost confidence that he will continue to drive Mid-America Transplant forward so we can save more lives through organ and tissue donation.”
Lee and the board will work closely with Brockmeier to ensure a smooth transition of leadership in preparation for her retirement after more than 35 years of service to Mid-America Transplant.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ, tissue, and eye donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ donors, recipients, and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 57 such organizations in the U.S. and is the first organ procurement organization (OPO) to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence, and the only two-time recipient. For more information, visit www.midamericatransplant.org