Tracy Simons Named Executive Director of Silver Cross Foundation
Silver Cross Hospital is pleased to announce Tracy Simons has been named Executive Director of the Silver Cross Foundation effective November 13, 2017.
Simons succeeds Lawrence B. Johnson who will retire after 21 years of service to Silver Cross. During his tenure, Johnson raised $49 million dollars including several gifts over $1 million. He played a significant role in ensuring that the new hospital could be built by raising $9 million for the capital campaign.
“Tracy has been a valuable member of our Silver Cross Family for many years,” said Ruth Colby, President and CEO of Silver Cross Hospital. “With declining reimbursements among Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payors, she will play a vital role in cultivating the funds needed so that we can continue to enhance and grow our facilities and services to improve the overall health of the community.”
Simons, 47, joined Silver Cross in 1997 as the Manager of Marketing and Community Relations and was promoted to Director in 2002. A talented and innovative communications expert, she led the Hospital to win several national and state advertising, marketing and public relations awards and has played a key role in positioning Silver Cross as the preferred hospital and a market leader.
Over the past 20 years, Simons has worked hand-in-hand with Johnson and the Foundation Board on numerous fundraising campaigns and initiatives, including the hospital’s annual charity Golf Outing and Childerguild Ball. Leading up to the relocation and opening of the new Silver Cross Hospital and state-of-the-art cancer center in partnership with University of Chicago Medicine, Simons oversaw all communications and implementation for over 30 special events – many of which recognized benefactors. She was also instrumental in securing several grants for Silver Cross and the naming rights for Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
As an advocate for the Hospital, Simons has deep ties throughout the community. She served as President of the New Lenox Chamber of Commerce, on the Board of Directors for the Joliet Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Council for Working Women and Tinley Park Lioness Club, and Chair of the Ambassadors Program for the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce. She also volunteered for many years as a Girl Scout and Boy Scout Leader in New Lenox.
With 25 years of strategic healthcare experience, Simons is a Past President of the Illinois Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations and member of the national Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. Prior to joining Silver Cross, she worked at St. Francis Hospital and Health Center in Blue Island—now MetroSouth.
She is a graduate of Tinley Park High School and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Valparaiso University and a MBA degree from the University of St. Francis. Simons resides in New Lenox with her husband, Scott, and their three children.
