(Dixon, IL) Jeffrey Lovett, Chairperson of Sinnissippi Centers’ Board of Directors and Richard Palmer, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Alliance, Inc. announce that a new President and CEO has been named to replace the retiring James R. Sarver. Lovett and Palmer served as Co-Chairs of an Executive Search Committee that spent a number of weeks in a search for a new Chief Executive Officer.
“We are excited to welcome Patrick Phelan as Sinnissippi Centers’ new President/CEO,” says Lovett. “Patrick is a good match for the agency. He is the right choice to take the direction retiring President/CEO Jim Sarver has led the agency in, and move Sinnissippi into the next 25 years,” adds Lovett.
“Patrick’s expertise includes enhancing organizational capabilities and resources, developing effective staff and volunteer teams, forging powerful new business partnerships and community alliances, along with rolling out ambitious and successful new initiatives. He has a great outlook for the agency and the industry,” says Lovett.
“The Board and the search committee are fortunate to welcome such an outstanding leader to our organization,” says Palmer. “Patrick’s commitment, energy and enthusiasm for our mission is matched by his years of experience and leadership. He brings to our corporate structure over thirteen years of management and program development in a non-profit leadership environment, having built an early career focused on program and community development,” adds Palmer.
Phelan has served the past 14 years with the Children’s Home Association of Illinois in Peoria, Illinois, most currently as Vice President of Education and Community Programs. Previously he was Children’s Home’s Director of Behavioral Health Services and Clinical Coordinator among other positions. Phelan also currently serves as the Board President of the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois.
“I was drawn to the opportunity at Sinnissippi,” says Phelan, “because the reputation of the agency across the state is very positive, there’s a great respect statewide for its leadership, its advocacy, and its reputation for developing new programs. I was also drawn to the great set of programs and the high quality of services that Sinnissippi maintains. Finally, I was very interested in the quality of life available in the communities Sinnissippi Centers is located in.”
“Taken together with the dedication and the kind of people the management and staff are, I believe this was the right choice for me and my family,” adds Phelan.
Phelan holds a Master of Clinical Psychology degree and will complete his MBA in the winter of 2013.
Phelan, along with his wife and son, are excited to be moving to their new home and will be moving to the area in early June.
“It’s almost cliché now to say that we face challenging times in the human services field in Illinois,” says Phelan, “but it’s true that we face many challenges now and in the future. Sinnissippi Centers is well positioned to meet that future and I am excited and ready to lead the agency through the challenges and the opportunities that we will face together in the coming months and years.”
The search for a new chief executive of Sinnissippi Centers was prompted by the imminent retirement, planned for June 2013, of current President/CEO Jim Sarver. Sarver has served Sinnissippi Centers for nearly 25 years.
“While the agency will be in very capable hands, at the same time we can’t help feeling that we will miss Jim Sarver,” says Jeff Lovett. “Jim has set a high standard for Patrick to follow and has been a part of a behavioral healthcare agency looked to from all over the state of Illinois as an agency upholding the highest standards of care and of being one of the most innovative behavioral healthcare agencies in the state.”
Rick Palmer echoes Jeff Lovett’s sentiments, saying, “While we are excited about the future of the organization with Patrick at the helm, we also recognize that with Jim’s retirement we are seeing the departing of an outstanding leader. We wish him well.”
Sarver’s legacy includes building Sinnissippi’s reputation of being on the cutting edge in the behavioral healthcare field in quality of service and innovation. Sarver has also lead the agency during the building of three new office buildings, the expansion of the Dixon office, and the building of all four of Sinnissippi Centers’ supervised living apartment sites.
Sarver has been active in many community service projects and community organizations both locally and at the state level. Sarver is a recent recipient of the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois’ Lifetime Achievement Award, and Dixon’s Citizen of the Year Award for 2012. In total, Sarver has served the human services field for more than forty-three years, nearly 25 of those years with Sinnissippi Centers, Inc.
