Skip to main content

About St. John Medical Center

Regional Leadership Team

Members of the Executive Team embrace a leadership model fully rooted in our Mission and Values and in our heritage as a Catholic health care ministry. This model guides our leaders in every aspect of their work and oversight responsibilities.  It challenges us to relentlessly pursue improvements in patient outcomes and service to patients and families while awakening joy, meaning and purpose in the human spirit.

Kendall Sawa

Kendall Sawa, RN

Chief Hospital Executive, PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center

Kendall began his leadership journey as an RN on the front line of patient care, serving a 15-year tenure at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. He returned to PeaceHealth after amassing more than 25 years of experience and innovation in executive healthcare leadership. Leading in multiple care environments, he is a skilled relationship-builder recognized for his thoughtful communication, presence and teamwork. Prior to rejoining PeaceHealth, Kendall served as chief operating officer for Providence Portland Medical Center. During his tenure, Providence gained top-quartile patient experience scores for inpatient and the Emergency Department as well as Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade A. Kendall holds a master’s in healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix.

Silhouette of a person's head and shoulders

Wendy Dennis

Chief Nursing Officer, St. John Medical Center
Silhouette of a person's head and shoulders

Jake Childs

VP of Operations, St. John Medical Center
Nandita Gupta, MD

Nandita Gupta, MD

Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

 

Community Health Board

PeaceHealth is guided by the PeaceHealth System Board of Directors and by Community Health Boards in each of our network service areas in Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

These volunteer board members are community leaders who fully partner with PeaceHealth in making and supporting decisions based on our Mission and Values as well as our Vision for the organization—that every person receives safe, compassionate care: every time, every touch.
 

  • Corey Balkan, Chair
  • Max Anderson, Vice Chair
  • Sr. Anne Hayes, Secretary
  • Cal Lantz
  • Jackie Davis
  • Thomas Hickey, MD
  • Karen Joiner
  • Tonya Lundsgaarde, MD
  • Cherelle Montanye
  • Mary Beth Tack

Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC)

  • PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center
  • PeaceHealth Medical Group- Longview Community Clinics

Accomplishments

Our PFAC has worked on multiple patient letters and handouts, new patient packets, patient appointment rescheduling process, signage placement and customer service. Our impact has been to make care more comfortable, understandable and accessible to patients and their families.

When a person registers with a PHMG primary care provider for the first time, they receive a new patient packet. It used to contain multiple, single pages of information that was overwhelming to read and understand. The PFAC suggested changing the format. Over a four-month period, the PFAC, PHMG providers and leaders collaborated to create a “Welcome to PeaceHealth Primary Care Services” booklet which combined all the previous information and added clinic names, addresses, phone numbers and hours of service, as well as removable maps. Patients appreciate this updated, user-friendly and compact reference booklet.  

Membership

  • Founded February 2017
  • 16 members
  • Meets monthly for ten months a year