Deborah C. Hopkins announces resignation from boards at St. John’s Health, Foundation

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — St. John’s Health announced the resignation of trustee Deborah C. Hopkins, who has held volunteer board leadership positions at St. John’s Health and St. John’s Health Foundation for more than four years.

Chair of the St. John’s Health board of trustees Cynthia Hogan accepted Hopkins’ notice of resignation, received on Tuesday, April 5. “The trustees are immensely grateful for Ms. Hopkins’ service and will miss her contributions to the board,” Hogan commented.

Hopkins served first as a board member and treasurer of St. John’s Health Foundation. Then, in 2020 she was elected to the board of trustees of St John’s Health, where she has served as vice-chair of the board and chair of the nominating and governance committee. In her position on the nominating and governance committee, she played a central role in recruiting a slate of exceptionally well-qualified board of trustees advisors.

“It has been an honor to serve both the St. John’s Health Foundation and subsequently as a trustee of the hospital, for more than four years. I have decided to step back from the board as my personal and professional responsibilities have grown to the point where I no longer believe I have the bandwidth to give our hospital the time it needs and deserves,” Hopkins said. “In no small part, I have made this decision knowing that the trustees have a strong slate of advisors with skill sets highly relevant to the needs of the hospital.”

Board chair Hogan feels optimistic a good candidate can be quickly found to replace Hopkins.

Given that 14 strong candidates recently interviewed for trustee and advisor positions, of whom five were selected, St. John’s Health board is fortunate to have many potential successors,” Hogan said. “Some current advisors have M.D. degrees, were prior officers on nonprofit hospital boards, or have raised their family in Jackson.”

Since January, the advisors have been engaging in the CEO search, housing issues and employee compensation, all of which have been discussed in public board meetings.

“Having so recently completed a comprehensive interview process, it makes sense to select one of the advisors to replace Ms. Hopkins and to wait until later to recruit more community Advisors or trustee candidates,” Hogan said.

Following Wyoming state statute, St. John’s Health trustees will appoint a candidate to fill the board vacancy. The appointment is effective from the date the new trustee is sworn in through the Teton County general election in November 2022. The person appointed will need to run in the general election to retain their seat.