Working in health care administration in the 1990s, there weren’t many female executives to look up to, said Julie Quirin, president of BJC Health System's West Region.

“The frontline staff is predominantly women, but as you moved up, there were fewer and fewer examples” of women in leadership, she said.

Fortunately for Quirin, she found a role model and mentor in Ruthita Fike, who became CEO at several AdventHealth hospitals in Kansas City. They worked together when Quirin was vice president of marketing and strategic planning for Shawnee Mission Medical Center, now part of the Advent system.

“She was just one of those dynamic leaders that was always available for guidance and counseling and gave me both formal and informal opportunities to grow and learn,” Quirin said.

Fike’s guidance laid the groundwork for Quirin to make an unexpected leap in her career — from marketing to CEO of Saint Luke’s South Hospital.

“It was a key moment in my career because I really did discover that I love hospital operations,” she said. “I love being closer to the patients, closer to the frontline caregivers, and that whole mission of what we do as a health system came to life for me.”

That job and subsequent roles in Saint Luke’s Health System also allowed her to work closely with Dr. Melinda Estes, former CEO of Saint Luke’s. Quirin said Estes “continued that trend of helping me grow and develop as a leader” by allowing her to be part of conversations that were outside her job description but gave her experience in areas of finance, insurance and governance.

Read the Kansas City Business Journal profile: 2024 Women Who Mean Business: Julie Quirin