Sunny Hampsey

Vice President, Nursing
Sunny Hampsey oversees Nursing Regulatory Compliance, Quality Incentive Programs, Quality Management, Rural Health and Telenurse.
My Leadership Why: “Making a difference through service, growth through embracing the grey.”
If there is one thing Sunny has learned while leading the Quality Management Department is that, while growth can at times be uncomfortable, pushing boundaries, thinking outside of the box and pivoting are the best—and sometimes the only—way to make lasting improvements to how things are done. The COVID-19 pandemic, during which Sunny managed all aspects of employee health in addition to setting best practices for safely operating facilities, is a perfect example of that to her.
“Leadership is about inspiring the team to not only work together to meet the common goal of the department or organization, but also inspiring them to push themselves past boundaries they might think they have and encouraging them to grow.”
Sunny is inspired by her team’s willingness to jump in and tackle projects that better serve patients and enhance service delivery for employees and providers every day. Her goal is to continuously build a data-driven quality improvement program that supports the organization through sound recommendations based on the present, even if it’s not always been done that way.
Vital Stats:
With 15 years of nursing experience, Sunny joined Springfield Clinic in 2012 as the Oncology Nurse Navigator for the Cancer Center. She became Director of Quality Management in 2017 and Senior Director of Quality Management in 2020.
Received her Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration from Benedictine University.
Originally from southern Illinois, Sunny and her spouse have one son and two “four-legged children”, Gus the Golden Retriever and Maddie the Lab.
Loves being outdoors—walking in Washington Park, hiking or Jeeping—as well as all things music.
Zach Kerker

Vice President, Brand, Experience and Advocacy
Zach Kerker leads the development and reputation of the Springfield Clinic brand, efforts to improve the patient experience and community and legislative advocacy efforts.
My Leadership Why: “Death to it’s always been done this way.”
Zach has spent much of his career riding a wave of market disruption. After starting in broadcast television, Zach left to create Channel1450.com, a digital platform for local sports content that would change the way fans in central Illinois would consume sports media. In 2018 he joined Springfield Clinic, despite having no experience in health care, with a mission to modernize patient communication and the patient experience.
“Springfield Clinic was looking for someone who didn’t bring a traditional health care mindset to the team, and I thought it was a tremendous opportunity. Health care has been one of the last industries to adopt a modern consumer approach for the patient. It’s frustrated me personally as a patient, and I saw a chance to have a positive impact on that for our community. I’m comfortable in the often uncomfortable space of change, and that’s been a necessary mindset for what we’ve set out to do at Springfield Clinic.”
Vital Stats:
Grew up in Mendon, Illinois and now lives in Chatham with his wife, Lori and their two daughters, Harper and Dagny.
Graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2006 with a degree in Mass Communications.
Winner of 2018 Illinois Capital Innovation Awards “Innovator of the Year.”
Fan of Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Cardinals.
Benjamin McLain

Vice-President, Operations
Benjamin McLain leads Springfield Clinic’s hospital-based and ancillary services programs which include the areas of Hospital Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Laborist Medicine, Radiation Oncology, Radiological Medicine, Laboratory, Radiology, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy.
My Leadership Why: “See a need; fill a need.”
Benjamin considers his leadership style to be founded on building up and nurturing other emerging leaders. He believes being a good mentor makes him a better leader himself because, together, he and his leadership team can actively engage in driving the direction of their departments, instead of him solely dictating the direction.
Opportunities to build a bigger and better hospital program in the area abound, and Benjamin works every day to create and execute that strategic vision with his team. He sees the tremendous need in the region for expanded hospital services and believes wholeheartedly his job is to both help fill that need and meet the expectations and needs of those hospital teams.
“When we partner with our local hospital administrators to help meet their needs, and they’re satisfied with what we implement to make the quality of life for their patients better, that’s my favorite part of a day.”
Vital Stats:
25 years of experience in the health care field focused on operational leadership, including small critical access hospitals and large health systems, providing oversight to multi-hospital service line leadership.
Native of upstate New York; now lives in Chatham, Ill., with his wife, Dawn and three sons, Tristan, Aiden and Landon.
Received a bachelor’s degree in biology and athletic training and a Master of Business Administration from Olivet Nazarene University.
Enjoys spending time with family, playing competitive sports, camping, participating in Boy Scouts of America and teaching Financial Peace University.
Katie Rutledge

Chief Human Resources Officer
Katie Rutledge, SPHR, oversees all areas of Human Resources, including Benefits, Compensation, Employee Relations, Training & Organizational Development and Talent Acquisition.
My Leadership Why: “Making Springfield Clinic a great place to work; empowering our workforce to provide an exceptional patient experience.”
Katie considers one of her top priorities to be championing her team to be as successful as possible in their roles. This is what Human Resources is all about, she believes: supporting the rest of the organization to carry out Springfield Clinic’s mission every day, because a positive environment for employees helps them create a community of caring for patients. This vision is simple, but the work is not always, and that’s what makes each day exciting.
“What motivates me is always being able to move things forward. If we sat stagnant, I’d go crazy. Health care is always evolving; there’s always an ongoing challenge in the industry. That means there’s always something out there that we can move toward and improve upon—and that’s where I thrive.”
Vital Stats:
17 years in human resources leadership that includes all areas of HR, including leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies in the Chicago area.
Earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication and a Master of Human Resources & Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
Sits on the Board and Executive Committee for Sparc.
Maintains certification as a senior professional of human resources (SPHR) and is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).
Born and raised in Springfield and has three children, Ryan, Jake and Emily.
Favorite hobby/other full-time job is being a mom and jumping from one kid activity to the next.
Sheila Streb

Vice President, Revenue Cycle and Internal Audit
Sheila Streb leads Springfield Clinic’s end-to-end revenue cycle performance and the overall preparation and execution of a risk-based internal audit plan.
My Leadership Why: “Transforming health care impacts and improves all patient experiences, including my family’s.”
Motivated by the prospect of a new challenge around every corner and getting to be a part of the next big thing, Sheila leads Clinic-wide coordination and transformation of the revenue cycle, introducing improvements at all levels of the organization, in order to achieve performance excellence, drive down costs and achieve financial goals.
“I’m committed to a seamless financial experience for our patients. That requires continued assessment and optimization at both the strategic and operation levels in order to achieve performance excellence. ‘The only ceiling created is the one I create,’ is what I tell my team. It’s exciting to be a part of that kind of transformation, to be a part of ensuring the success of Springfield Clinic for generations to come.”
Sheila’s guiding focus is her roots in the community. While not originally from Springfield, she has raised her family, who have had Springfield Clinic doctors their whole lives, here. It’s how she can see the direct impact her team’s work has on patients’ health care journeys, and she uses it to help drive toward that exceptional patient experience every day.
Vital Stats:
Began her career in public accounting with a local firm focusing on compliance and financial auditing and tax preparation.
Sheila joined Springfield Clinic more than 20 years ago; in that time, she built the Internal Audit program from the ground up, developed the contracts management function and led the successful transition of the billing system and optimization of related processes.
Attended Eastern Illinois University and University of Illinois – Springfield and received her degree in business/accounting.
Grew up in Gillespie, Ill., and now lives in Springfield with her husband Eric. Together they have three children, Logan, Kasten and Lizzy.
Enjoys spending time at the lake, boating and water sports.
Cal Thomas

Chief Development Officer
Cal Thomas leads Springfield Clinic’s strategic planning in the areas of Market Intelligence, Regional Strategy & Planning, Provider Recruitment & Integration, Medical Staff Services and Brand, Experience & Advocacy.
My Leadership Why: “Seeing the collective effort of the team coming together to secure opportunities and tackle challenges, celebrating those wins together and jumping right back in to figure out what can be improved upon next time.”
Cal’s focus is creating an exceptional provider and patient experience through business development. His team touches all aspects of those experiences, including the onboarding and credentialing of new providers, the careful analysis of markets and their areas of need, making providers and patients alike aware of the services available and collecting and responding to patients’ experiences after they leave the office.
Cal’s background as a multi-sport athlete is what taught him early-on that teamwork achieves success and makes the hard work more enjoyable:
“By leveraging valuable perspectives from all areas—peers, providers and patients—only then can we discover, develop and deliver a truly differential experience. When people put aside their own interests and come together to work together, that’s when the magic happens.”
Vital Stats:
20 years in the health care field for both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
Oversaw program development, operations and mergers for a multispecialty federally qualified health center in the St. Louis and Metro East areas.
Program development, marketing and operational initiatives in the Phoenix, Aspen and Chicago markets gave him various cultural and regional perspectives that lend themselves well to working with the health care diversity of the Midwest.
Born in Rochester, Ill.; lives in Sherman with his wife, Carly, two children, Carson and Callie, and their lab, Cocoa.
Attended Indiana University and Southern Illinois University and received degrees in business administration and marketing.
Collegiate First Team All-American in soccer and played professionally.
Enjoys spending time with family, exercising, coaching, hunting and fishing.