Tribute for Paul Reinert

The National Jamboree is the fondest memory Paul has in Scouting. He and his Troopmates traveled by train from St. Louis, MO to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The trip totaled 16 days and included adventures to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and a historical stop in Washington, D.C. At the Jamboree, Paul remembers meeting Scouts from 40 countries and 50 states totaling 52,000 youth! He was the Patrol Leader for the weeklong experience and tasked with leading his teen peers to success. A young Scout by the name of Tadashi Kudaka, a Japanese teen from Okinawa, was placed in Paul’s Patrol. Tadashi and Paul became tent mates for 9 days, neither of them able to speak fluently in each other’s languages yet bonded through the brotherhood of Scouting.

Paul recounts one of the highlights of the Jamboree was when President Johnson flew in by helicopter to address the over 50,000 youth crowded on a hillside. He also remembers those 50,000 testosterone driven teens enjoying the entertainment provided by a youthful Anita Bryant.

Paul studied at the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1972. While enrolled at Notre Dame, Paul participated in a Sophomore Year Abroad program studying in Cali, Colombia where he became fluent in Spanish, a skill he still puts into practice in his professional endeavors to this day. After graduation, Paul joined the St. Louis office of Arthur Andersen & Co. a leading international public accounting firm. He became a Certified Public Accountant on July 23rd, 1974. During his career at Arthur Andersen & Co., Paul became the youngest Partner ever admitted by the St. Louis, Missouri office on September 1st, 1982. While with Arthur Andersen, Paul was an Adjunct Faculty Member at Washington University School of Healthcare Administration, where he taught required courses in Healthcare Financial Management from 1986 – 1988.

In 1992, Paul moved to Springfield, Missouri to become Chief Financial Officer of St. John’s Health System (currently Mercy Springfield Communities). While at St. John’s, Paul played a key role in the formation of the integrated health system Mercy is today. He was one of two lead negotiators in the acquisition and integration of over 30 independent clinics and physicians’ practices. As a result, St. John’s became the first fully integrated healthcare delivery system in Missouri. Paul’s leadership, as CFO of Mercy, helped make it possible for rural communities to receive needed healthcare resources previously not available to them.

In 2002, Paul joined his business partner, Greg Horton, to help create Integrity Home Care & Hospice, a business dedicated to providing personal care support and home-based healthcare services to enable the frail and disabled to remain in their own homes despite their condition. Paul is now semi-retired and holds the position of Chairman at Integrity Home Care & Hospice.

Professionally, Paul has been highly involved in the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). With HFMA Paul helped to engage and develop a 50,000-member national association focused on healthcare financial management. Philanthropically, Paul has been instrumental in the efforts of the Adorers of the Blood, selected by the organization to represent the North American membership. Paul was 1 of 9 lay individuals worldwide selected, to attend the organization’s International General Assembly in Italy. Recently, Paul has been an active member of Rotary International, and just recently served as Rotarian Governor of District 6808. Rotary has allowed Paul to participate in International Rotarian Conventions in North and South America as well as Europe.  Paul also spearheads international Rotarian service trips to help underserved communities in partnership with those areas’ Rotary Clubs. He has led groups to Guayaquil & Quito, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Paul also participated in a specialized project to help indigent people of India in 2018. Most recently, Paul lead a Rotarian group from Springfield, MO to Cali, Colombia to help Colombian Rotary clubs serve impoverished neighborhoods in Cali.

Locally, Paul has been involved as a Board Member or Board President of several organizations including Springfield Little Theatre, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks (HFO), Community Alliance for Compassionate Care at the End of Life and Camp Barnabas. Despite all of Paul’s professional and philanthropic endeavors, he always put his wife, Carol Reinert and his two daughters at the top of his list.

Please, join the Ozark Trails Council and all Paul’s family, friends, and colleagues in congratulating Paul as the newest inductee of Outstanding Eagle Scouts.