Local Mercy exec promoted within health system

Last edited 12:17 p.m., Feb. 10, 2025 [Editor's note: More information has been included.]

Marie Moore, chief nursing office for Mercy Communities Springfield, has been promoted within the Mercy system to president of Mercy Washington and Lincoln Communities.

She will take the helm March 3, nearly five months after the departure of the local hospital’s former president, Eric Eoloff. According to the job description for Moore’s new post, the president is responsible for leading the strategic planning process; overseeing daily operations and human, physical and financial resources; integrating services across the health system; and developing and engaging the workforce.

Moore has served as CNO of Mercy Communities Springfield for three years, capping a 17-year local career that began as a nurse tech on the surgical telemetry floor at Mercy Hospital Springfield while she was still in nursing school.

Moore said in her new role, she will have oversight of the Mercy Four Rivers Community, which includes Mercy Washington Hospital in Washington, where she will be based, as well as Mercy Hospital Lincoln in Troy and an ambulatory services footprint that comprises 50 clinics.

She said it would be difficult to leave Springfield.

“This hospital and community have seen me through all my phases of life – dating, getting married, having all three of my children here,” she said. “A lot of our nurses, doctors and team members have helped form me into the person I am today.”

David Argueta, regional president of Mercy East and Southwest Communities and former president of Mercy Springfield Communities, said he has seen firsthand the impact Moore makes on the caregiving team and in the broader community.

“She is truly a transformational leader,” said Argueta. “She brings so much joy and empathy to her work and cares deeply about her team and the patients we serve. Her experiences as an aspiring student, as a nurse and as a leader have given her a unique set of skills that makes her the right fit for this role.”

Moore said she became CNO during a difficult time. The position had been vacant for two years, and the pandemic was happening.

“We were not in good shape, both as a team and from a workforce perspective,” she said.

At that time, over 50% of the nursing workforce was made up of agency, or temporary, workers, and not all of the hospital beds were able to be open.

“We weren’t operating well, and our nurses were not happy,” she said. “They needed leadership support.”

Over the course of three years, Moore said, Mercy has built back its nursing workforce, and now all beds are open. She projected that only about 100 agency nurses will remain by the end of the fiscal year.

“We’ve had astronomical growth in patient lives, serving over 1,000 more patients per month,” she said. “We’ve accepted over 12,000 patients from the region into our hospital, coupled with operating room growth.”

She also noted double-digit year-over-year growth of the workforce, with 14% more caregivers at patient bedsides this year than last.

National benchmarking company Gartner tracks registered nurse turnover nationally and notes that the top quartile of hospitals have an RN turnover rate of 12.7%. Mercy Springfield Communities has a turnover rate of only 12%, Moore said.

Additionally, every nurse manager position is filled, with succession planning in place in the event one exits that role.

“We’ve been able to build a highly reliable team – able to develop people’s talents and skill sets – and that’s led to some of the success we’ve seen,” she said.

Moore said there is always work to do in the health care field.

“There’s always a new challenge, and that’s something I also really appreciate,” she said. “I’m somebody who likes to stay busy, achieve and progress – and that’s also what I like about health care. It’s a fast-paced, complex environment.”

Moore noted she is leaving behind a team that is solid and capable.

“We have an amazing leadership team here, and that gave me peace as I accepted this new position,” she said. “I don’t feel that I’m leaving anyone behind. I’m excited to continue to see that growth, and as I move out, it allows someone else the opportunity to develop and be handed an opportunity.”

Local Mercy spokesperson Ettie Berneking said Moore’s successor has not yet been named, but the position will be posted this week, and the search will begin immediately.

Moore hails from Branson and earned her bachelor’s in nursing and master’s in health care administration from Missouri State University.