Investing in Care, Everywhere

Collaborate. Innovate. Appreciate. Investing in Care, Everywhere

At SSM Health, the word “Mission” isn’t just decorative — it’s foundational. Practicing with a Mission, as we do, creates an operational identity that promotes bold investments in technologies and innovations that make a tremendous difference in the level of care we offer.

Our Mission is at the heart of some of the most recent investments that we’ve made across our system. This includes building a new high-tech, sustainably designed care center in Monroe, Wisconsin; a million-dollar upgrade to our cardiac catheterization lab at SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Illinois; and an updated cancer care center for SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri. For SSM Health, these aren’t just capital decisions. As Damon Harbison, President of SSM Health Good Samaritan and SSM Health St. Mary’s in Illinois, puts it, “This isn’t just an investment in technology — it’s an investment in lives.”

Our most recent series of investments has helped us elevate the level of surgical care by offering robotic surgery in two of our Oklahoma hospitals. When SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital added the da Vinci Xi surgical system, it wasn’t a big-city campus making the announcement — it was a regional facility in Shawnee, serving Pottawatomie County and the rural communities around it. For the physicians who practice there, that distinction matters.

“It shows that our hospital is committed to bringing advanced, high-quality care to our community,” says Amanda Schovanec, DO, an OB/GYN with SSM Health Medical Group in Shawnee. “Patients don’t always have to travel to a larger city to access the latest surgical technology. For a rural hospital, that’s something to be really proud of.”

Months later, SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital did it again — becoming the first hospital in Oklahoma to perform robotic cardiac surgery, using the system’s newest da Vinci 5 platform. It’s a surgical technology that many surgeons associate with major academic centers, but at SSM Health, we believe that high standards of care belong everywhere — including our community hospitals.

“Robotic technology continues to transform the way we care for patients with heart disease,” says Alejandro Murillo-Berlitz, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, who performed the milestone procedure. “The DV5 system is designed to enhance precision and visualization, allowing us to perform complex cardiac procedures through smaller incisions.”

Two specialties, two milestones, one pattern across the system: SSM Health surgeons recognized the benefit of robotic-assisted care early, and the system supported them enough to invest in the idea.

For Dr. Schovanec, the benefit of adding robotic surgery capabilities really felt in line with the overall Mission of care. “When we can offer a minimally invasive procedure that reduces pain and recovery time, we’re helping patients get back to their lives sooner,” she says. “It is a meaningful way for us to live out our Mission and serve our community.”

It’s a Mission built on a simple idea: the physicians closest to patients should be closer to the decisions that affect them.

“I felt my input was genuinely valued throughout the decision-making process,” Dr. Schovanec says. “As a newer physician, it was especially meaningful to see my perspective was welcomed and respected from the very beginning.”

That wasn’t a formality. “Physician feedback wasn’t just requested — it was truly considered,” she says. “The process felt collaborative, with leadership and clinicians working together toward a shared goal of improving patient care.”

Working together, with open dialogue and with a shared Mission, allows us to do tremendous things. “This is a place where your voice truly does matter,” Dr. Schovanec says. “You feel supported in your growth, trusted in your judgment, and part of something that is actively trying to move care forward for the community we serve.”

That’s what Mission looks like at SSM Health. It’s how we show up for every community we serve, not just the largest ones. It’s how we collaborate and work with a shared purpose to shape our investment decisions from the boardroom to the operating room. It’s how we work together to continually innovate so we can advance our level of care everywhere. And it’s what we get to do together with a mutual appreciation and respect that allows us to truly make a difference in the lives of everyone we serve.