James Collins, president and CEO of St. Clair Health, will retire this summer. He will be succeeded by senior vice president and COO Michael Flanagan.

Collins has served in the position since 2006. Under his leadership, St. Clair grew substantially and became nationally recognized for excellence.

Starting in 2012, IBM Watson Health named St. Clair one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals six times, the most in western Pennsylvania, including in each of the last four years.

This year St. Clair received its 20th consecutive A grade in patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, a distinction it shares with only 33 other hospitals in the U.S., and none in Pennsylvania.

In 2016, St. Clair completed a clinical affiliation with the renowned Mayo Clinic to expand its clinical services and bring additional expertise to the region, becoming one of only 45 members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network worldwide.

During Collins’ tenure, St. Clair added numerous medical and surgical services, and expanded its regional footprint with outpatient centers in Bethel Park and Peters Township. Last year, St. Clair completed a $162 million master site plan on its main campus, highlighted by the 300,000-square-foot Dunlap Family Outpatient Center.

Flanagan joined St. Clair Hospital in December 2006, becoming COO in August 2007. He has 30 years of health care industry experience and previously served in roles at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from the Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in Public Management, with a concentration in Health Systems, from Carnegie Mellon University.

Hank Hughes, Mt. Lebanon’s head tennis pro, has been honored with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Marquis was the publisher of the first Who’s Who in America in 1899.

The news came as a surprise to Hughes, who was not even aware he had been nominated until he got a request for an interview. That is the typical procedure.

Although everyone who is listed in Marquis Who’s Who is eligible for the award, only 5 percent of the listees receive it, according to Jayde Neglia of Marquis Who’s Who.

“Our in-house research committee is tasked with identifying high-caliber professionals,” she said. “Mr. Hughes’s career accomplishments encouraged our research committee to request an interview with him and as such he was accepted to be published with us.”

Hughes was spotlighted with other recipients of the award in the Wall Street Journal. He remains pleasantly surprised by the whole thing.

“Honestly, I’m just a tennis coach. This was totally out of the blue.”