Edgar J. Curtis

Edgar J. Curtis has served as president and chief executive officer of Memorial Health since January 2008. He provides leadership for the strategic direction of the Springfield-based health system, which delivers comprehensive health services to the central Illinois region.

Curtis began his career at Memorial in 1975 as a registered nurse and has served in a variety of administrative positions. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a past chair of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association Board. He also serves on the board of the BJC Collaborative and the American Hospital Association Regional Policy board and is vice chair of the Sangamon County Economic Development Commission. In 2019, he was appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker to serve on the board of trustees of Southern Illinois University.

He previously served on the Illinois Board of Higher Education Commission on the Future of the Workforce and the advisory board of the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing. Curtis is past chair of the boards of the Springfield Urban League, United Way of Central Illinois and Central Illinois Foodbank. He was named a Grassroots Champion by the American Hospital Association and awarded the Order of Lincoln by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.

A Springfield resident, Curtis received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree and earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where he was inducted into the School of Nursing Alumni Hall of Fame.