CHRISTUS St Vincent Names Lillian Montoya President and Chief Executive Officer

By Christus St Vincent

Lillian Montoya has been named President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CHRISTUS St. Vincent, a Santa Fe-based not-for-profit health care system, serving a sevencounty region of North Central New Mexico. CHRISTUS St. Vincent’s current President & CEO, Patrick Carrier, will retire after more than 43 years in the health care industry, 18 of those with CHRISTUS Health. Carrier has served as President and CEO since November of 2015.

“We are so thankful for Pat’s leadership over the past three years, during which CHRISTUS St. Vincent has made significant improvements in service offerings, patient experience and breadth and depth of our clinical capabilities,” said Jeff Puckett, executive vice president and chief operating officer, CHRISTUS Health. “Pat’s retirement creates an exciting new opportunity as we appoint Lillian Montoya the new CEO of CHRISTUS St. Vincent,” Puckett continued. “Her commitment and passion to making sure the system provides high quality compassionate health care is very personal to her as a native of New Mexico. We are proud to have her as our CEO.”

Montoya’s appointment becomes effective June 15, 2018. She currently serves as the hospital’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a role that has included oversight of hospital operations including Surgical Services, Materials Management, Environmental Services, Food & Nutrition Services, the Clinical Laboratory, Medical Imaging Services and Respiratory Therapy in addition to oversight of the health system’s Service Excellence, Human Resources and Marketing & Communication units. She has also served as the organization’s principal advisor regarding advocacy and public affairs.

Montoya has more than 25 years of extensive experience in helping corporate, government, and non-profit leaders navigate strategic and organizational challenges. She has demonstrated proven results in designing, developing, and implementing programs that make our communities better places to work.

Montoya becomes the first female CEO of the hospital since the original Sisters of Charity established St. Vincent Hospital in 1865. She joins a growing number of women assuming top leadership roles in the health care industry.

During her tenure as CAO and COO, Montoya led the organization to several key milestones, including the successful completion of a labor management agreement with NM 1199. She was also closely involved in the construction of the Frost Pavilion, which was largely a result of her community outreach and research conducted at more than 50 community meetings.

Montoya’s affiliation with CHRISTUS St. Vincent began in 2010 when she joined the hospital’s Board of Directors and was ultimately elected as Chair in 2013. Later that same year, she joined the organization’s administrative team as Vice President for Public Policy & Stakeholder Engagement.

In 2016, Montoya took on the role of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), overseeing the health system’s Service Excellence, Human Resources and Marketing & Communication units as well as public affairs and advocacy.

Prior to her work with CHRISTUS St. Vincent, she concurrently served as Executive Director of the New Mexico Independent Community Colleges, as Program Manager of the New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership, and as a partner in the MVM Group, leading critical community efforts to strengthen New Mexico.

Previously, Montoya was a Principal at Flywheel Ventures, LLC, working with innovative entrepreneurs and early stage companies. While serving as Director of the Community Programs Office at Los Alamos National Laboratory, she led strategic planning efforts and corresponding investments in regional education, economic development and community giving. She was also Executive Director of the Regional Development Corporation. Her 12 years of state government service included serving as Deputy Director of the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education.

Montoya is a proud mother of two children, Elena Rael, a graduate of St. Michael’s High School, and Joshua Rael, a graduate of Santa Fe High School. A native New Mexican, Montoya has distinguished herself as an active participant in many community, business and educational organizations and has been repeatedly featured as a New Mexico top business “Power Broker” by New Mexico Business Weekly. She is immediate past chair of the New Mexico Associate of Commerce & Industry. She received her BA and MBA from the University of New Mexico.

During his tenure as CHRISTUS St. Vincent’s President & CEO, Patrick Carrier, led efforts to significantly enhance the clinical capabilities of the hospital, including the construction of the Frost Pavilion and the conversion to all private patient rooms. Carrier also led efforts to further enhance the quality of health care in the community, including substantial improvements in physician coverage in North Central New Mexico, growing the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Medical Group to nearly 150 providers.

“The hospital and the community have enormously benefitted from Pat’s passion for improving the quality of each patient’s experience,” said Karen Wells, chair of the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Board of Directors. “We are thankful that he has cultivated a group of strong leaders, including Lillian, who are committed to our mission and ready to lead CHRISTUS St. Vincent into the next chapter of its more than 150-year history. I look forward to welcoming her as the system’s next leader.”

CHRISTUS St. Vincent Health System is a not-for-profit partnership between two organizations committed to delivering high quality health care services to the people of Santa Fe and North Central New Mexico. Those include CHRISTUS Health, an international health care organization, and SVHSupport, a Santa Fe-based organization that provides funding for projects to improve quality of care at the hospital and for complementary projects that directly impact the health and wellness of the community. “Pat has been a great leader in so many ways for CHRISTUS St. Vincent; his deep knowledge of health care has been a profound benefit to the community and the hospital,” said Earl Potter, chair of the SVHSupport Board of Directors. “Much like the partnership between SVHSupport and CHRISTUS Health, the partnership between Pat’s experience and Lillian’s broad business experience and knowledge of the community and love for the people here allowed them to work together to build a vastly improved health care system which benefits each of us. I look forward to Lillian’s tenure and working with her even more closely as the leader of CHRISTUS St. Vincent.”

CHRISTUS St. Vincent employs more than 2,200 physicians and Associates and has nearly $400 million in annual revenue.