SYRACUSE, N.Y. — St. Joseph’s Health of Syracuse and St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) of Albany on Wednesday announced Dr. Steven Hanks as the new president and CEO of the merged entity as of Jan. 1.
Both health-care organizations are part of Livonia, Michigan–based Trinity Health. It was in late June of last year that Trinity Health announced that the entities were merging operations to deal with the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Hanks succeeds Leslie Luke as the top official at St. Joseph’s Health. As part of the restructuring effort, Luke was set to voluntarily leave the organization after a transition period, per a Trinity Health memo that CNYBJ obtained back in June.
St. Joseph’s Health tells CNYBJ that Luke is no longer with the organization. He had been the president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health since 2017.
After a year of planning, Dr. Hanks assumed the CEO role following the retirement of Dr. James Reed at the end of 2022. Dr. Reed served for more than a decade in executive leadership at St. Peter’s.
“The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, but the incredible team of nearly 15,000 colleagues in Albany and Syracuse have been steadfast in their support as we embrace this new era for St. Joseph’s Health and St. Peter’s Health Partners,” Dr. Hanks said. “I am honored to serve as the President and CEO of this comprehensive, regional health system that is so widely known for its high-quality facilities, programs, and services, and for our ability to deliver the compassionate care our communities deserve.”
Dr. Hanks previously served as COO for the regional entity since last June. He joined SPHP in 2016 as VP and chief medical officer of Acute Care Albany, “taking on increasingly more demanding leadership roles.” He served as SPHP’s chief clinical officer beginning in 2018 and added the COO title for SPHP in October 2021.
In 2022, he served for five months as interim president and CEO while Dr. Reed was on a medical leave of absence and, during that time, was a principal architect of the plan to bring Trinity Health’s ministries in Albany and Syracuse together.
Hanks lives in Latham, near Albany. He is splitting his time between Albany and Syracuse as the new regional leader of both organizations, per the announcement.
