Rick Stevens recently became the first African-American president of Christian Hospital in North St. Louis County – and the first African American to lead any hospital in the BJC Healthcare system.
Upon hearing of Stevens’ arrival, Rev. Freddie Clark, pastor of Shalom Church, turned to one of his congregational members, producer Eric Rhone, and said they needed to make sure Stevens felt welcome. On Friday, August 26, Clark and Rhone together hosted a reception at the Norwood Hills Country Club with several black executives and community leaders to do just that.
“When I look around this room at the many positive and powerful personalities, many of you are able to survive in your contexts because you have a place of retreat,” Clark said to a room of about 40. “Our gathering today is to say to the newest person in the room: This is where you come when the load gets heavy. The persons in this room value you and welcome you.”
Bishop Courtney Jones said that he had already met with Stevens to help him navigate the community and target certain pressing concerns.
“Christian means a lot to a lot of people,” said Stevens, “and I want to make sure we continue to do that.”
Stevens said that a couple weeks ago Clark prayed for him during a service.
“A lot of my staff came up to me and said, ‘We prayed for you,’” Stevens said. “And trust me, I thank you for that, because I know what prayer can do and I’m a product of what prayer can do.”
Stevens moved to St. Louis for this position after four years in San Francisco, where he was chief administrative officer at St. Luke’s Hospital and vice president at California Pacific Medical Center. Christian, North St. Louis County’s main hospital, operates the busiest emergency room in the state, Stevens said, with 110,000 annual visits, and is the state’s third-busiest ambulance service provider.
“I’m here for the adventure, and I see all the possibilities that are there,” said Stevens, a Memphis native and Tennessee State graduate.
Kelvin Westbrook, chairman of the board at BJC Healthcare, said Stevens’ passion impressed him during the interview process. It is significant, he said, that a hospital that serves a majority African-American population will have a black president.
“Not to say that others haven’t done a good job in addressing some of the challenges in our region,” Westbrook said, “but there comes a unique understanding and an appreciation when you are of the community, as opposed to just in the community.”
Westbrook became BJC’s first black board chair in January 2014. Westbrook said BJC’s mission is to improve the health of the people and communities it serves. There are many in the community who struggle to find access to quality healthcare, he said. Often, people are so concerned with surviving that tending to their health is a luxury. In the interview process, Westbrook asked Stevens if he “was he up to accepting and appreciating those challenges.”
“To understand that a person’s environment contributes 80 percent to their health status,” Westbrook said. “If you don’t appreciate the environment in North County, then you are hard-pressed to understand the things we take for granted.”
Clark and Rhone also recognized Dwaun J. Warmack as another newcomer, though he became president of Harris-Stowe State University two years ago.
In his speech, Warmack said he moved to St. Louis in July 2014.
“Three weeks later was the Mike Brown tragedy,” he said. “My wife was still living in Florida at the time and she said, ‘Babe, we haven’t sold our house. You might want to come back home.’ But I said, ‘This is where God has called us to serve.’”
Vernon Betts, an assistant minister at Shalom who won the Democratic primary in the race for St. Louis sheriff, also was recognized as a new black leader.
Clark closed the reception with a baseball analogy of sorts. He said he always knew in his heart that he was going to play professional baseball.
“It took my having a conversation with some colleagues who said, ‘Trust me, you weren’t that good,” he laughs.
But he still has an appreciation for the game and “how it holds together.”
“What we’ve done on today is that we have been practicing watching how it all holds together,” Clark said. “None of us in this room has made it on their own. We have a great community.”
