Obituary: Health Care Leader Edward Connors

Edward J. Connors, who served as president of Mercy Health Services in Farmington Hills, MI, from 1976 to 1993, died last Thursday. He was 89. Before leading Mercy Health Services, Connors held academic and management leadership positions at the University of Michigan Hospital and the University of Wisconsin Hospital. Connors has written extensively about health care and provided consultation services to many health care organizations and associations. Throughout his career, Connors served on a number of AHA committees. In 1989, Connors was chairman of the AHA Board of Trustees. His wife, Carolyn Roberts, also chaired the AHA Board of Trustees in 1994. Connors in 1993 received the AHA’s Distinguished Service Award – the association’s highest honor. “Ed Connors was as comfortable discussing complex public policy issues as he was creating health care delivery systems to better serve communities,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “A visionary, he was an early advocate for ensuring access to care for all and improving the health status of the community. His ideas for how health care should be delivered can still be seen in AHA’s current work on health care transformation. Ed mentored a generation of health care leaders. Those who knew him will remember him as a kind and giving man with an amazing intellect and sense of humor. Our thoughts are with Carolyn and his family.”