Sandra Van Trease, group president for BJC HealthCare, provides strategic leadership and direction to the BJC Collaborative LLC, an association of Saint Luke’s Health System (Kansas City, Mo.), CoxHealth (Springfield, Mo.), BJC HealthCare (St. Louis, Mo.) and Memorial Health System (Springfield, Ill.). She also is responsible for overall business and growth strategies for a select group of BJC’s community hospitals, including Boone Hospital Center, Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital and Parkland Health Center in Missouri; and the BJC Medical Group, to ensure outstanding clinical quality, operating efficiencies and financial stability. In 2012, Van Trease was appointed president of BJC HealthCare’s Accountable Care Organization and leads BJC’s overall efforts in Population Health and Virtual Health. She also serves as a member of the senior management team at BJC HealthCare, one of the largest nonprofit health care organizations in the United States.
Van Trease joined BJC in 2004, following a successful career as president and CEO of UNICARE, a managed health care company serving 1.7 million members as part of the WellPoint Health Networks Inc. family of companies. She also held a number of leadership positions with RightCHOICE Managed Care (former parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri and HealthLink, Inc.), including serving as president and COO. Prior to RightCHOICE, Van Trease spent 12 years with Price Waterhouse.
Van Trease earned her master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She is a certified public accountant and a certified management accountant. In 2004, she received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Missouri–St. Louis for achieving distinction in her field and for contributing to the betterment of the university and the St. Louis community.
Van Trease is an active member of the St. Louis community and has provided service for a number of civic and corporate boards, including Peabody Energy, Enterprise Financial Services Corporation, Vizient, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, St. Louis Regional Business Council, St. Louis Police Foundation, University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor’s Council, Washington University School of Business National Council, United Way - St. Louis Board of Directors and Campaign Cabinet, American Heart Association– Midwest Affiliate, American Heart Association-St. Louis, Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation and the International Women’s Forum. Her leadership has been recognized by several organizations including the St. Louis Business Journal, Modern Healthcare and the YWCA of Metropolitan St. Louis. Recently, Van Trease was identified as one of the Becker’s Hospital Review “Most Influential Women to Know in Healthcare” and as one of the “Women to Watch” by the Missouri Society of CPAs.
Van Trease, a native of St. Louis, is married and has two children.
UMSL is the only public university in the region to carry dual AACSB accreditations for its business and accounting programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
