Mercy Hospital Hot Springs announced Nov. 27 that its president has resigned effective Dec. 7.
Tim Johnsen has accepted the position of president of Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Kim Day, president of Mercy’s central region that includes Arkansas, will serve as interim president in Hot Springs.
“Day will provide leadership until the planned transfer of Mercy Hot Springs to Capella Healthcare is finalized,” the hospital announced.
Vatican approval for the sale of a Catholic hospital is required. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor is waiting for notification from the Vatican on its decision. Until Vatican approval is given, the sale cannot be granted.
Johnsen joined Mercy in Hot Springs in 2006 as executive vice president and chief operating officer and was named president in 2008. He served as president of St. John’s Hospital-Lebanon (now Mercy Hospital Lebanon) in Missouri from 2003 to 2006.
Johnsen began his health care career in nursing and first served Mercy as a nurse at its Springfield, Mo., hospital in the 1980s.
