Russ Johnson

Johnson joined LMH Health as President and Chief Executive Officer on August 1, 2016. A seasoned health care executive with 30 years of successful senior leadership in hospitals and health systems, he previously served as Senior Vice President of Network Development and Outreach with the Centura Health System in Englewood, Colorado.

He grew up in Merriam, Kansas, graduating from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, and still has strong family ties to the area. He began his health care career in 1984 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was an assistant administrator and administrative fellow for a 540-bed regional medical center. He also served as vice president of operations for VHA Iowa before returning to the Kansas City area in 1989 to become assistant administrator of operations for Saint Luke’s Northland, a position he held for eight years. He was chief operating officer for Edinburg Regional Medical Center, a 169-bed hospital in Edinburg, Texas, from 1997 to 2000. He then served as the CEO for San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colorado, for 12 years.

Johnson is active in many professional, civic and community organizations. He served 12 years on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Hospital Association and was a board member for the American Hospital Association for three years. In 2007 he was awarded the American Hospital Association’s Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award, which recognizes the accomplishments of a small or rural hospital leader who has improved health care delivery in their communities through innovative and progressive efforts. He also received the Rural Healthcare Excellence Award by the Colorado Rural Health Center in 2007 and was the Colorado AHA Grassroots Champion for 2008.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. He received a bachelor’s degree in management and economics from the University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a master’s degree in health care administration from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.