SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb., – The Regional West Health Services Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of John A. Mentgen to succeed Todd Sorensen, MD, MS, as president and CEO of Regional West Health Services. He will join Regional West on August 1 and will work with Sorensen as they transition responsibilities leading up to Sorensen’s retirement later this year.

Mentgen and his family will move from St. John, Ind., where he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer and Hammond. Franciscan St. Margaret Health includes two tertiary full-service care facilities [800+ licensed beds] at the Dyer and Hammond campuses, along with Omni Schererville and other health care related operations in the communities they serve. It is part of the Franciscan Alliance, a non-profit Catholic healthcare system that operates 14 hospitals in Indiana and Illinois and employs nearly 800 physicians.

“We are excited to welcome John, his wife Laura, and son John to western Nebraska,” said Hod Kosman, Regional West Health Services board chairman. “He has a record of strong, repeated accomplishments in successively larger roles at not-for-profit Midwestern health systems, and his family ties to western South Dakota make this position a good match for him and his family.”

Mentgen started his career in 1994 with Cox Health, Springfield, Mo. He held progressive roles leading to the position of administrator of Cox Medical Center North and vice president of support services. In 2004, he was recruited to CHI St. John’s Regional Medical Center, Joplin, Mo., as vice president, operations. In 2006, he was promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer, a role he held until joining Franciscan St. Margaret Healthcare in 2009.

Mentgen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drury University, Springfield, Mo., and a Master of Healthcare Administration from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He completed his administrative fellowship at CoxHealth in 1995 and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Regional West Health Services, Scottsbluff, Neb., is the parent company for Regional West Medical Center and Regional West Physicians Clinic. These organizations, with over 1,800 employees, provide comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people and communities of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. With over 110 active physicians, plus an additional 25 consulting specialists, the Regional West family of health care organizations offers care that spans more than 30 medical specialties.