St. Mary's Hospital took an historic step in 1964 with the appointment of Steven J. Soltis as the hospital's first lay administrator – a post he would hold for the next 25 years.

In announcing the appointment, Reverend Mother M. Christina, C.M.P., provincial of the American Province of the Sisters of the Pallottine Missionary Society, noted that this was "the first time in West Virginia that a layman has been appointed chief executive officer of a Catholic hospital and one of the very few instances of such departure from tradition in the United States."

Praising Soltis, Mother Christina commented: "He has ability, vision and the kind of faith in the future we are looking for."

The future would prove that her assessment was perhaps even more accurate than she knew, for it was with Soltis at the helm that St. Mary's grew from a modest-sized community hospital into a regional healthcare giant.

A native of Iowa, Soltis was educated at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, and Iowa State College in Ames. He came to St. Mary's

after eight years as administrator at Beckley Memorial Hospital, one of the hospitals built by the Miners' Memorial Hospital Association. Prior to that, he was with the Washington office of the association, where he assisted in planning 10 hospitals that it constructed in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.

From his first days at St. Mary's, Soltis worked closely with the members of the hospital and medical staff, along with the Sisters, laying the groundwork for an ambitious, long-range plan. That plan called for an expansion that would see St. Mary's transformed into virtually a whole new hospital.

By 1989, much of that plan had become a reality. The hospital had grown from 345 beds to 440 and had added modern state-of-the-art services and facilities.

In December of that year, St Mary's announced that the 71-year Soltis was retiring. The announcement marked the end of an era for St. Mary's. And what a remarkable era it was – one in which St. Mary's was truly fortunate to be guided by a man with the ability, vision and faith of Steven J. Soltis.

St. Mary's Medical Center is proud to induct him into our Wall of Fame.