Mercy CEO announces retirement

Tim Charles, who’s been with Mercy 19 years, plans to retire at end of year

Feb. 2, 2022 12:31 pm, Updated: Feb. 2, 2022 2:57 pm

Tim Charles, president and chief executive officer of Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. After 19 years at the hospital, Charles plans to retire Dec. 31. (Mercy Medical Center)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Tim Charles, president and chief executive officer of Mercy Medical Center, has announced he will retire at the end of this year.

“Leading Mercy has been the most significant professional privilege of my 46-year career in health care,” Charles said in a statement.

“The long list of accomplishments at Mercy are the result of a dedicated staff, devoted provider colleagues, philanthropic community stakeholders and our superb board of trustees.”

A search for his successor is underway, and Mercy officials say they expect to name a new CEO sometime this spring.

Charles, who’s worked at Mercy for 19 years, had planned to retire last year but delayed that departure because of COVID-19 pandemic challenges.

Charles was hired in 2003 as Mercy’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was appointed as president and CEO in July 2007.

Charles said he plans to stay in Cedar Rapids following his retirement.

Officials said in a statement that Charles’ time at Mercy has been “defined by a deliberate focus on sustaining its independent status, despite the industry’s rush to consolidation.”

In the past two decades, Charles also is credited for tripling Mercy’s asset value and achieving growth across multiple service lines, including expansion of its emergency department, primary care, specialty care and urgent care clinics in the Cedar Rapids metro area.

In that time, the hospital also has broken ground on new facilities, including the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center, the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy and, most recently, the HallMar Village and the Chris & Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center on Aging & Dementia.

“Mercy is fortunate to have had Tim Charles as its CEO for the past 16 years,” Al Ruffalo, chairman of the MercyCare Service Corp. board of trustees, said in a statement.

“Tim has led Mercy through some very challenging times, and because of his steadfast leadership, Mercy is poised for some exciting endeavors in the near future for our community.”

Officials say the Mercy board has been preparing for Charles’ retirement and conducting succession planning for “the last several years.”

“Mercy is well-positioned today and for the foreseeable future, serving our community as it has the past 122 years,” Charles said.

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