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St. Bernardine Medical Center Names New President

Dignity Health St. Bernardine Medical Center is pleased to welcome Douglas Kleam to the St. Bernardine Medical Center (SBMC) team. Douglas will serve as the hospital president, effective June 12, 2017.

A seasoned health care executive with a diverse background in hospital administration, Douglas has the expertise to lead St. Bernardine through its current strategic challenges while guiding the hospital’s vision for the future.

“We are excited for Doug’s leadership and operational expertise to lead our team at St. Bernardine,” says Julie Sprengel, SVP of Operations for Dignity Health Southern California. “His dedication to the Inland Empire, his unquestionable integrity and commitment to our ministries will be a driving force in moving the Medical Center forward.”

In his most recent role, Douglas served as administrator and chief operating officer for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Among his accomplishments, he exceeded net operating income by more than 20 percent for the past two fiscal years, achieved an 84th percentile on the Press Ganey inpatient satisfaction survey, and recruited multiple physicians – while supporting physician alignment and retention efforts resulting in high physician engagement.

Prior to working for Providence Holy Cross, Douglas served as the chief operating officer for Daughters of Charity, St. Vincent Medical Center. While at St. Vincent, Douglas improved operational efficiencies and costs by over $11.8M through productivity monitoring, staffing efficiencies and physician utilization improvements. Additionally, under his leadership, the hospital achieved its highest employee satisfaction scores.

Douglas has an MBA from the University of Redlands and a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Bakersfield. Douglas is also a graduate of the Catholic Healthcare Ministry Leadership Program, a collaboration of five health care congregations, which reflects his long term commitment to stewarding organizational cultures that integrate the principles of Catholic social teaching, thought, and practice.

Douglas has longstanding ties to the Inland Empire and to SBMC. Early in his career, Douglas led support services for SBMC and Linda, his wife of 37 years, is a school nurse in San Bernardino County. Douglas is delighted to be back at St. Bernardine and looks forward to collaborating closely with the Sisters, staff, physicians and board members and serving the Dignity Health mission.

About St. Bernardine Medical Center

Serving the health care needs of the people of the Inland Empire since 1931, Dignity Health St. Bernardine Medical Center is a highly-regarded 342-bed, nonprofit, tertiary acute care hospital located in San Bernardino, California.  The hospital offers a full continuum of services, from family care to heart surgery, treating an average of 72,000 individuals in the Emergency Department, delivering 2,100 babies and admitting more than 17,000 patients for treatment each year. 

Publish date: 

Monday, June 12, 2017

Media Contact


Christina Zicklin, Director of External Communications

p: (310) 922-8522

[email protected]