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Elizabeth Hickle Named Executive Director of Light of Hearts Villa


CLEVELAND – January 9, 2013 – Elizabeth J. Hickle, MPA, LNHA has been named executive director of Light of Hearts Villa, a supportive residential community for seniors. Located in Bedford, Ohio at the former Lumen Cordium High School, Light of Hearts Villa is a joint ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System and the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.

Hickle, a licensed nursing home administrator, joins Light of Hearts Villa from St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, where she served in multiple roles. As interim director of emergency services, Hickle directed operations of the emergency department for the main campus and a satellite free standing emergency room. Responsible for managing the department’s  budget, staff recruitment, compliance and policies, Betty also was involved in supporting marketing and outreach programs and implementing an electronic medical record system. As administrative director of the hospital’s medical campus in Solon, Hickle directed operations for its emergency department, radiology, laboratory, occupational medicine, rehabilitations services and hospital-based physician practices. She was also the project manager for a major remodeling of the facility.

Previously, Hickle provided more than a decade of administrative leadership at the Women & Children's Pavilion at MetroHealth Medical Center, where she was director of daily ambulatory operations. In that role, she was responsible for financial planning and analysis for hospital-based operations, National Institutes of Health research funds and grant budgets involving The MetroHealth System, The MetroHealth Foundation and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, totaling more than $80 million. Her leadership also involved recruitment, orientation, training, supervision and performance evaluations for more than 160 FTE faculty, staff, residency and fellowship training programs. Additionally, Betty served in leadership of The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Center for Skilled Nursing Care at MetroHealth.

"Betty brings to Light of Hearts Villa 14 years of progressive leadership in health care at two outstanding institutions," said Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System.  "Her leadership roles at St. Vincent Charity and The MetroHealth System will be a significant asset to Light of Hearts Villa and its mission of upholding seniors on their journey of aging.”

On January 14, Hickle will formally assume her new role leading Light of Hearts Villa.

"Guided by faith, Light of Hearts Villa provides an improved and enriched quality of life for older adults and their families," said Hickle. "I am very pleased to join and advance this commitment to serving seniors with grace and integrity through quality, affordable services."

Hickle is an active board member of the Rotary Club of Solon and the Solon Senior Center’s Connect4Seniors program, which connects seniors with approved residential contractors and service providers. She is active in the community through volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland, Positively Cleveland, Muscular Dystrophy Association and other nonprofit organizations.

About the Sisters of Charity Health System

The Sisters of Charity Health System was established in 1982 as the parent corporation for the sponsored ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Ohio and South Carolina. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, since founding in 1851, continues a faith-based legacy of high-quality, compassionate care in partnership with its co-ministers, who are the heart and hands of the ministry.

The Sisters of Charity Health System solely owns four Catholic hospitals: St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio; Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio; and Providence Hospital and Providence Northeast in Columbia, South Carolina. In a 50/50 joint venture with University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Sisters of Charity Health System also co-owns St. John Medical Center in Westlake, Ohio.

The Sisters of Charity Health System also oversees three grantmaking foundations located in Cleveland and Canton, Ohio, and Columbia, South Carolina. Each foundation sponsors significant community initiatives and collaborations that address causes and consequences of poverty.

Other health and human services and education-related organizations within the Sisters of Charity Health System include Joseph’s Home, a unique residential care center for homeless men in Cleveland; Early Childhood Resource Center for people working in childcare in all settings in Canton; Healthy Learners, a health care resource for children from low-income families in South Carolina; and the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, a state-wide organization supporting initiatives to reengage fathers in the lives of their children.

The Sisters of Charity Health System also provides residential elder care services at Regina Health Center in Richfield, Ohio, and Light of Hearts Villa in Bedford, Ohio. Light of Hearts Villa is jointly sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.


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