Former Mercy Iowa City CEO dies

IOWA CITY - Ronald Reed, the former longtime president and CEO of Mercy Iowa City, died Monday after a long illness.

Reed, 64, died at the Hospice Care Unit within the private hospital he led from 1995 until his retirement in 2016.

Mercy Iowa City, started by Catholic nuns in 1873, has 234 beds and is known for high patient satisfaction scores among Eastern Iowa medical centers.

Reed oversaw expansion of Mercy Iowa City's services, including new primary and specialty care clinics, Wound and Vein Center, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Mercy Hospice Care. During his tenure, the hospital acquired Coral West medical facility and converted to single-patient rooms, the hospital reported in 2016 when Reed announced his retirement.

Reed led the hospital through turbulent times, when inpatient admissions flagged at many small hospitals, including Mercy Iowa City, and the University of Iowa bought private practices with long affiliations to Mercy. But Reed pushed the smaller hospital to compete with the UI and developed niche markets.

'Our hope is we can continue to provide choice in the community,” Reed told The Gazette in 2015.

The hospital announced last April it would join the Mercy Health Network, a unified Catholic health network with 42 hospitals and 207 clinics in Iowa.

Reed was active in the Iowa City community, serving as board chairman for several organizations, including the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, Iowa City Area Development Group, Health Enterprises Cooperative and the Preucil School of Music. He was a member of the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club and served on the Board of United Way of Johnson County, including chairing the Community Campaign in 2008, according to his obituary.

Reed served as an adjunct professor in the UI's College of Public Health.

He loved fly fishing, downhill skiing, woodworking, reading, history, traveling, learning other languages, gardening, and spending time with his family, including wife, Helen Ann, and grown children, Elizabeth and Ross.

A celebration of life service will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Terry Trueblood Lodge, in Iowa City, where a family tribute will be shared at 6 p.m.

l Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com