James R. Francis Bio

James R. Francis, FACHE Division Chair, Supply Chain Management and Assistant Treasurer Mayo Clinic

Jim Francis has more than twenty-five (25) years of experience in leading high performing supply chain organizations.  As an executive, Jim is recognized for his expertise in strategy formulation and execution, shared services, operations and his development of highly effective teams.  Jim joined Mayo Clinic in 1999 and is responsible for enterprise-wide supply chain strategy and operations. In 2012, Mayo expended more than $2.8 billion on supplies, purchased services, and capital medical equipment.  Consisting of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, Mayo inspires hope and contributes to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research. Mayo consists of 26 acute care hospitals and more than 130 practice sites.  In addition to these responsibilities, Mayo provides sourcing and contracting services to a regional supply network known as the Upper Midwest Consolidated Services Center, LLC that consists of 41 integrated delivery networks with more than 140 hospitals in 18 states and $4 billion in purchases.

Prior to his current position, Jim was vice president material services at BJC Healthcare in St. Louis. In this capacity, he was responsible for the integration and management of all material service functions. While at BJC, he managed a system-wide supply expense of $340 million. Prior to this position, he was vice president of corporate services at Christian Health Services (CHS) in St. Louis. He had been with the CHS system since 1984.

Mr. Francis earned his Bachelor of Arts and his Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He received his Master of Health Administration degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Association of Healthcare Resource Materials Management.  He is a past recipient of an “Up and Comer” award from Modern Healthcare and “Material Manager of the Year” by Healthcare Purchasing News.   In addition to these recognitions, the Mayo Clinic supply chain organization has been recognized by Gartner as one of the Top 25 Supply Chains in Healthcare in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.   Mr. Francis is a member of the Board of Directors of Bellwether League, Inc. and serves on the Advisory Board of Intelligent Insites.  He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Strategic Marketplace Initiative and the Board of Directors of Novation, LLC, the supply company of VHA and UHC.  He participates in various other professional and community activities.