John Heer, Founder and CEO

John Heer is the only CEO/President to have been a Baldrige Award Recipient in three organizations, to have received the Award at two different companies and the first two-time award recipient in Healthcare in the history of the Baldrige National Quality Award Program.

John Heer joined Tupelo-based North Mississippi Health Services as president and CEO in July 2004. His accomplishments include restructuring the board governance structure to be more transparent, open and responsive to the communities served, reorganizing the leadership structure according to service lines, implementing a Servant Leadership culture, reconnecting with the community, improving communication with employees, physicians, and the Board, hardwiring several leadership systems to enhance alignment and deployment throughout the organization, and leading North Mississippi Medical Center’s Baldrige journey culminating in its being named a 2006 recipient of the Baldrige National Quality Award.

Before joining NMHS, Heer worked with Baptist Healthcare in Pensacola, Fla., where he served as Baptist Hospital Inc.'s president from 2001 until 2004. While at Baptist, it was on Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work For" list for three consecutive years, had been in the top one percent of the hospitals in the Press, Ganey Customer Service Database, the largest patient satisfaction measurement company in the nation, and was a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2003.

Prior to Baptist, Heer held several administrative positions in hospitals located in Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

Heer received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., and a master's degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He is a CPA, Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.