STHS chief Joan Coffman recognized in ‘Who’s Who’

St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan Coffman FACHE has been inducted into Marquis Who’s Who, an American publisher of biographical volumes used for research since 1899.

Coffman has been leading STHS since 2018. In that time, the organization has earned recognition as a Top 100 Hospital for Spine Surgery by Healthgrades, a High Performing Hospital for COPD and Heart Failure by U.S. News & World Report, and a Top 10% Hospital for Overall Hospital, Medical and Surgical Excellence by CareChex.

A New Orleans native and healthcare industry veteran, Coffman began her career in 1982 as a radiologic technologist at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. 

Since then, she has served in a variety of leadership posts, including as CEO of the Louisiana Clinic; director of outpatient services for Tenet Healthcare; assistant administrator of St. Charles General Hospital and Lindy Boggs Medical Center; chief administrator of the East Tennessee Heart and Medical Group; and, immediately prior to her arrival at STHS, as CEO of HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital in Illinois.

“Ms. Coffman attributes the great success of her career to her parents - her mother was a nurse and her father's entrepreneurial spirit steered her down her current career path,” Marquis writes in announcing her “Who’s Who” induction. “While coming of age, she visited the practice where her mother worked and became very intrigued by physicians, clinicians and the support staff working together to help patients and creating a very healthy community. Ms. Coffman feels fortunate to have such a culmination of gifts and talents shared by both of her parents.”

In addition to serving as president and CEO of STHS, Coffman chairs the Joint Operating Committee overseeing the partnership of STHS and Ochsner Health. She is also a member of the St. Tammany Toxicology Laboratory Services Board of Managers and Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital Board. She chairs the AHA Governance & Nominating Committee for small and rural hospitals and sits on boards for the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce, Vizient Southern States, Ochsner Health Network and Safe Haven.