Sacred Heart Health System has selected Carol L. Schmidt as its new chief operating officer.

She joins Sacred Heart after serving with Ascension Health and previously the Daughters of Charity National Health System for 12 years.  Since 2000, she served as vice president of operational excellence for Ascension Health. In this capacity, she led an internal consulting division that assisted health facilities throughout Ascension Health to improve quality, operational and financial performance. In addition, she had executive responsibility for the Ascension Health commitment to improve the experience of the patients and families at member hospitals and related health facilities. Most recently, she served as interim executive vice president at St. Vincent’s HealthCare in Jacksonville and interim president of St. Luke’s Hospital, a part of the St. Vincent’s system

"Carol is widely respected across Ascension Health," said Laura Kaiser, President and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System and the Ascension Health Ministry Market Leader for the Gulf Coast/North Florida. "She brings to Sacred Heart a passion for quality health care and the mission of Ascension Health. She has a proven ability in diverse areas such as operational performance improvement and physician partnering."      

About Sacred Heart Health System
Sacred Heart Health System has established itself as the most preferred hospital in Northwest Florida and the region’s leader in providing high quality health care to children and adults.  Key services include a 466--bed hospital in Pensacola that includes the area’s only Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Other key services include a Regional Heart and Vascular Institute, Stroke Center, Level II Trauma Center, a Cancer Center affiliated with M. D. Anderson Physicians Network, and a large regional network of primary care and specialty doctors stretching from Foley, Ala. to Panama City Beach, Fla.  In 2003, the Health System added Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, a 58-bed community hospital in Walton County. In March 2010, the new Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf, a 25-bed hospital, opened in Port St. Joe, Fla.  Sacred Heart is part of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest system of Catholic, non-profit health care facilities.