252 hospital and health system chief medical officers to know | 2026

Becker’s Healthcare is proud to recognize exceptional chief medical officers serving hospitals and health systems nationwide.

These physician executives are instrumental in elevating patient safety, upholding rigorous quality standards, strengthening collaboration between executive leadership and medical staff, and guiding risk management efforts. 

As champions of clinical excellence and continuous improvement, their leadership has helped their organizations achieve distinguished quality and safety recognitions.

Note: Becker’s Healthcare developed this list based on nominations and editorial research. Leaders do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it an endorsement of the leaders or organizations mentioned. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order. We extend a special thank you to Rhoda Weiss for her contributions to this list.

Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments.

Reid Adams, MD. Chief Medical Officer at UVA Health University Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.). As chief medical officer of the UVA Health University Medical Center, Dr. Adams provides strategic, clinical and operational leadership across inpatient and ambulatory settings with a strong focus on patient safety, quality and clinical excellence. He oversees all medical service lines, and collaborates with leaders across the medical center, UVA School of Medicine and the University Physicians Group to align clinical operations with academic, research and organizational priorities. Partnering closely with the CNO, he leads clinical operational services and advances integrated, team-based models of care while developing and executing strategic goals tied to quality, safety, patient experience, team engagement and financial stewardship. He co-chairs the patient care committee, serves on the clinical staff executive committee, and participates in governance as an invited guest to the UVA Health system board. He champions UVA Health’s “Be Safe” initiatives, which aim to eliminate preventable harm and embed high-reliability practices into daily operations through dashboards, service line strategies and accountability frameworks. In addition, he serves as the tenured Claude A. Jessup Professor of Surgery.

Joshua Adler, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at UCSF Health (San Francisco). Dr. Adler oversees quality, physician management, safety and coordination of patient care throughout the UCSF Health system. He also manages population health, clinical resource management, regulatory compliance, medical staff affairs, clinical innovation and risk management for the system. In addition to his leadership at UCSF Health, he is the vice dean for clinical affairs at UCSF School of Medicine. Prior to assuming his current roles, he was chief medical officer for UCSF Medical Center and medical director of ambulatory care. 

Vincent “Butch” Adolph, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Ochsner Children’s (New Orleans). Dr. Adolph oversees hospital operations and systemwide program development across Ochsner Children’s, working closely with physician and administrative leaders to support operational success across clinics and 30 pediatric specialties and subspecialties. He has been essential to the development of Ochsner’s pediatrics model since joining the organization in 1994 as a pediatric general surgeon. Under his leadership, Ochsner Children’s is transitioning to a dedicated, state-of-the-art pediatric facility, The Gayle and Tom Benson Ochsner Children’s Hospital, intended to deliver high-quality care for thousands of children each year. He also serves as section head of pediatric general surgery and previously served on the Ochsner Health board of directors. His prior roles include service on the staff executive committee, medical director of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program, section head of pediatric surgery, associate program director of the general surgery residency program, and interim chair of pediatrics. With his guidance, Ochsner Children’s has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 hospital for kids in Louisiana for five consecutive years and has ranked among the top 50 children’s hospitals nationally for nine consecutive years, including 2025 rankings in cardiology and heart surgery as well as gastroenterology and GI surgery. He also serves on national boards and committees dedicated to advancing excellence in pediatrics and pediatric surgery.

Tulay Aksoy. Chief Medical Officer of Jefferson Abington (Pa.) Hospital. Dr. Aksoy serves as chief medical officer at Jefferson Health’s Abington Hospital, bringing a team- and patient-centered leadership style to clinical operations and medical staff partnership. She recently transitioned to Jefferson Health after serving as CMO at Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, and that her focus is on strengthening operational discipline and driving clinical excellence. In this role, she aims to set clear expectations around safety, quality and care delivery reliability, while also partnering with hospital leadership and physicians to improve day-to-day execution and the patient experience. A physician leader, Dr. Aksoy elevates performance through consistent operational rigor, strong teamwork and a patient-first mindset that has been particularly valuable during periods of leadership transition and performance improvement.

Quentin Alleva, MD. Regional Medical Director for Ochsner Baton Rouge (La.). Dr. Alleva is regional medical director for Ochsner’s Baton Rouge region, serving as the organization’s equivalent to chief medical officer. There, he provides medical staff leadership for approximately 650 physicians and advanced practice providers while advancing quality and patient care excellence. Over 17 years at Ochsner Baton Rouge, he progressed from staff radiologist to regional chair of radiology and associate medical director of medical specialties before assuming his current leadership role. He plays a foundational part in long-term strategic planning, including capital investments, workforce development and service expansion to meet evolving community needs. His leadership supports initiatives that address population growth, physician shortages and demand for advanced medical services in the region. Dr. Alleva is recognized for a leadership philosophy grounded in accountability and follow-through, fostering trust and collaboration across clinical teams. Ochsner Medical Center–Baton Rouge earned “A” Leapfrog Safety Grades in spring and fall 2025, as well as recognition in national rankings including Newsweek‘s “America’s Best In-State Hospitals” list. 

Thomas Aloia, MD. Executive Vice President and System Chief Clinical Officer of Ascension (St. Louis). Dr. Aloia serves as executive vice president and system chief clinical officer of Ascension, leading clinical strategy, quality, safety, care transformation and physician engagement across one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems. He oversees clinical performance across more than 2,600 sites of care, aligning primary care redesign, specialty integration, virtual care and service line strategy with Ascension’s value-based care goals. Through executive sponsorship of the system’s clinical innovation institute and oversight of the Ascension Clinical Research Institute, he has built an enterprise infrastructure that integrates research, analytics and digital tools directly into clinical workflows. Ascension now supports nearly 3,000 active or approved research studies within a unified clinical trials management platform designed to accelerate evidence translation into frontline practice. Under his leadership, the system has advanced scalable care models aimed at improving coordination, reducing unnecessary acute utilization and strengthening clinician experience. A hepatobiliary surgical oncologist and former chief quality officer at Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Aloia brings academic rigor to enterprise operations while positioning innovation as a driver of measurable gains in access, affordability and outcomes across Ascension.

Andy Anderson, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Quality Officer of RWJBarnabas Health (West Orange, N.J.). Dr. Anderson took on his role in 2022. He drives the health system’s clinical mission to advance and elevate care for the communities it serves, and oversees 45,000 employees, including 9,000 physicians who treat a service area of more than five million people. Dr. Anderson has served RWJBarnabas Health since 2018 as CEO of the combined medical group of RWJBarnabas Health and New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers Health, one of the largest provider consortia in the nation.

Douglas Apple, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of Ascension Michigan (Warren). Dr. Apple is accountable for clinical performance across acute care and ambulatory care practice sites. He leads population health and value-based programs, along with acute care services, medical staff governance, ambulatory care programs, physician hospital organizations and Ascension Medical Group. Among his notable achievements is the development of Ascension Michigan’s operational excellence council.

Dustin Arnold, DO. Chief Medical Officer for UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Hospital (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Dr. Arnold has served as chief medical officer for UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Hospital since 2012. He first joined the hospital in 2006 as medical director for the hospitalist program, then became chief medical information officer in 2011. In his current role, he leads and supports medical staff while overseeing clinical operations to ensure quality of care and patient satisfaction. He also serves as associate medical director of hospital-based providers. In addition, he is president of the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association and vice chair of the Linn County Board of Health.

Hany Atallah, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami). Dr. Atallah oversees the daily operations, all physicians and related tasks at Jackson Memorial. Since joining the hospital, he has helped facilitate an almost two day reduction in inpatient length of stay.  He was also very involved in the development and plan for the $300 million emergency department at Jackson Memorial. In addition, he has extensive emergency department operational experience and has been awarded the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants “Physician of the Year” designation in 2013, the Georgia College of Emergency Physicians “Medical Director of the Year” in 2014, the Grady Health System “Pillar of Excellence Award” in 2019. He was a finalist for the prestigious international “Franz Edelman Award for Excellence in Operations Research” from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. Dr. Atallah is a member of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Association of Physician Leadership, and is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Heather Babe, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Shenandoah (Iowa) Medical Center. Dr. Babe leads the medical staff for Shenandoah Medical Center as its chief medical officer. As part of the senior leadership team, she also acts as the liaison between medical staff and leadership. She guides the organization’s strategic direction and has been a key facilitator in the facility’s service line growth, including the addition of obstetrics and gynecology, medical oncology and hematology, radiation oncology, urogynecology, orthopedic surgery, dermatology and non-invasive cardiology. Dr. Babe first joined the medical center in 2008 as a primary care physician, became medical director of the rural health clinic in 2013, and became chief medical officer in 2017. Thanks to her excellent performance, she was named to the board of directors in 2019. 

David Baker, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Carson Tahoe Health (Carson City, Nev.). Dr. Baker’s time as a cardiologist at Carson Tahoe Health has been marked by his leadership roles, shaping healthcare in the community. As medical director of Carson Tahoe Medical Group, he ensured high-quality care and guided the organization’s growth. Serving as chief of cardiology, he led the department collaboratively, enhancing patient outcomes. Beyond clinical roles, Dr. Baker served as an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada in Reno, shaping future healthcare professionals. In 2023, he assumed the role of chief medical officer, streamlining services and adding 23 providers, showcasing strategic vision. His career embodies a commitment to excellence, patient care, and community engagement, leaving a lasting impact on Carson Tahoe.

Thomas Balcezak, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. As chief medical officer of Yale New Haven Hospital, Dr. Balcezak is responsible for medical staff affairs administration, graduate medical education, patient safety, clinical quality, accreditation, regulatory readiness, the hospitalist service and care management. He also leads Yale New Haven Health System’s clinical redesign efforts, positioning him at the center of enterprise initiatives to improve care delivery and performance. His prior credentials include serving as an associate clinical professor of medicine and lecturer in public health at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and in the American Board of Internal Medicine. Under his leadership, Yale New Haven Hospital continues to rank among the top hospitals nationally in U.S. News & World Report‘s “America’s Best Hospitals” list, with national rankings in 11 specialties and the No. 1 spot in Connecticut. Previously, he served as senior vice president and chief quality officer for Yale New Haven Hospital with responsibility for clinical quality, operations improvement, physician credentialing, licensure and accreditation, and program development in the neurosciences and medicine service lines.

David Battinelli, MD. Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief of Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Dr. Battinelli serves as Northwell Health’s physician-in-chief for clinical, research and education matters. He assumed his role in 2021, 14 years after first joining the health system. Before his current role, he acted as Northwell’s senior vice president and chief medical officer.

Eric Beshires, MD. COO, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Centennial (Frisco, Texas). Dr. Beshires is the COO, CMO and vice president of Medical Affairs at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Centennial. Thanks to his multiple roles and responsibilities, he is an integral part of ensuring that the hospital runs smoothly. The hospital boasts excellent clinical outcomes in a wide spectrum of services, spanning from orthopedic care to cosmetic and plastic surgery. 

Marjorie Bessel, MD. Chief Clinical Officer at Banner Health (Phoenix). As the highest-ranking physician executive at Banner Health, Dr. Bessel is responsible for driving clinical quality and safety initiatives, clinician wellbeing, patient experience, research and clinical technology advancement across the system’s 32 hospitals in six states, including three academic medical centers and three children’s hospital campuses. Self-reported clinician burnout is currently the lowest in Banner history, with Banner Health achieving a second consecutive American Medical Association “Joy in Medicine” bronze award. Dr. Bessel also drives the system’s high reliability efforts in engineering, processes and culture, which over the years has positively impacted lengths of stay. Mortality has improved in the years 2023, 2024 and in 2025 to its lowest level in Banner history, resulting in more than 881 lives saved in 2025 alone. Dr. Bessel serves on the boards of Banner | Aetna, Banner Health Network, Banner Surgery Centers and Banner Medicare Advantage. Her recent awards include AZ Business Magazine‘s “Champion of Change” and Phoenix Business Journal‘s “Healthcare Heroes.” 

Padmini Bhadriraju, MD. Regional Chief Medical Officer at Mission (Texas) Regional Medical Center, Knapp Medical Center (Weslaco, Texas) and Harlingen (Texas) Medical Center. Dr. Bhadriraju serves as regional chief medical officer for three Prime Healthcare community hospitals in deep South Texas, providing administrative oversight while continuing to practice as a hospitalist and primary care physician. She leads quality, safety and physician engagement efforts across facilities that serve one of the nation’s lowest socioeconomic regions, where diabetes and heart disease significantly impact population health. Under her leadership, all three hospitals earned “A” Leapfrog hospital safety grades in fall 2025, with Mission Regional achieving 11 consecutive “A” grades since 2020, Harlingen earning nine consecutive “A” grades since 2021 and Knapp demonstrating sustained high performance since 2022. Board-certified in internal medicine, Dr. Bhadriraju also directs Catalyst Medical Group’s two primary care clinics and oversees hospitalist services across the Rio Grande Valley, strengthening chronic disease management and care continuity. Her hospitals have received national recognition, including distinction as one of the Women’s Choice Award “Best Hospitals”, Lown Institute “A” grades for social responsibility, multiple Healthgrades 5-star distinctions and American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines honors. In addition to her executive leadership, she serves as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and has been recognized with the “Outstanding Leader Award” from the India Association of the Rio Grande Valley.

Kavitha Bhatia, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Strategy at Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.) Dr. Bhatia’s leadership and vision have led teams toward transformative change in nearly every area of Prime Healthcare’s hospitals. During a time when Prime tripled in size, Dr. Bhatia led initiatives and strategic planning in key areas to support the growth of the system. She has led Prime in equity, value and clinical outcomes. Dr. Bhatia also serves as president and chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving healthcare through its hospitals and educational initiatives. She has created unprecedented scale with revenue and assets, and the provision of billions in charity care throughout Prime’s hospitals across the country.

Sunny Bhatia, MD. President and Chief Medical Officer at Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Dr. Bhatia establishes the overall direction and priorities for Prime’s hospitals in enhancing the quality, safety, effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare delivery. Dr. Bhatia’s visionary leadership and deep commitment to serving patients and communities has led Prime Healthcare to continually innovate and earn accolades for clinically excellent care. Under his leadership, Prime Healthcare’s hospitals have earned unprecedented accolades for quality, health equity, patient safety and performance from nationally recognized healthcare rating agencies. The implementation of value-based initiatives under Dr. Bhatia’s direction has had a positive financial impact systemwide.

Evan Bloom, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Adventist Health Clear Lake (Calif.) and Adventist Health St. Helena (Calif.). Dr. Bloom serves as chief medical officer for Adventist Health St. Helena and Adventist Health Clear Lake, leading clinical operations, quality and patient safety while aligning physician engagement and governance across both campuses. At St. Helena, he built new clinical infrastructure, including a vascular and limb salvage program, a regional cardiology call coverage model spanning five hospitals and a formal mortality review structure. His leadership helped reduce out-of-network transfers 40.2% year over year and cut avoidable hospital days by approximately 50%. He also played a key role in strengthening documentation and utilization processes that generated more than $6.7 million in overturned denials and additional billable charges in 2025. He drove a 20.8% improvement in sepsis SEP-1 compliance within six months and helped avoid multiple patient safety indicators through disciplined performance oversight. At Clear Lake, Dr. Bloom led the hospital to CMS 5-star quality status for the first time and reduced mortality by 37% in 2025, while securing at least $2.6 million in additional billable charges through clinical documentation improvement and overturned denials. He expanded access in a rural tri-county region by launching and growing service lines including pulmonology, rapid care, palliative care, orthopedics, nephrology telemedicine, neurology and pain medicine, contributing to sustained year-over-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization performance. A board-certified emergency physician with deep public health and emergency preparedness experience, Dr. Bloom has also served as acting public health officer for Lake County, leading Covid-19 response and securing $3.7 million in public health funding.

Patrick J. Brennan, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for University of Pennsylvania Health System, Penn Medicine (Philadelphia). Dr. Brennan serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, where he oversees healthcare quality, patient safety, regulatory affairs and medical affairs across seven hospitals and an extensive outpatient network delivering millions of visits annually. He leads systemwide initiatives to strengthen clinical accountability, regulatory readiness and measurable improvements in patient outcomes across a $12.5 billion academic health enterprise with more than 50,000 faculty and staff. An infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Brennan previously chaired the healthcare infection control practices advisory committee, advising senior U.S. health officials on national infection prevention and disease control policy. His expertise in infection control and public health has shaped operational strategy across Penn Medicine and informed leadership roles at various hospitals across the system. He also serves on the inaugural board of health for the Delaware County Health Department, extending his impact into regional public health governance. In addition, Dr. Brennan serves as the official host city medical lead for FIFA World Cup 26 Philadelphia, overseeing medical planning and coordination for one of the world’s largest sporting events. 

Theresa M. Brennan, MD. Chief Medical Officer for the University of Iowa Health Care (Iowa City). Dr. Brennan has served as chief medical officer of University of Iowa Health Care since 2011, overseeing clinical quality, safety, performance improvement, operations excellence, the office of patient experience, the clinical staff office, the admissions and transfer center, and documentation improvement. She partners closely with physician and hospital leadership to align quality, safety, professionalism and operational strategy across the academic health system. Dr. Brennan founded and leads the system’s executive leadership academy, a structured development program built to prepare faculty and staff for executive roles in academic medicine. She has championed a culture of accountability and psychological safety through broad implementation of the coworker observation reporting system, reinforcing respectful, team-centered professionalism across training and practice environments. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she served as a visible and trusted clinical spokesperson, guiding internal teams and community stakeholders with clarity and steadiness. A practicing interventional cardiologist and clinical professor of internal medicine, she maintains a 4.87 out of 5 patient satisfaction rating and has been recognized as a Castle Connolly “Top Doctor” since 2011.

Andrew Brotman, MD. Executive Vice President, Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs and Strategy and Chief Clinical Officer at NYU Langone Health (New York City). Dr. Brotman has been at NYU Langone Health since 1999. Before that, he served as senior vice president and COO for physician practice management and network development at CareGroup, now part of Beth Israel Lahey Health in Boston. Dr. Brotman was also the chief of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He is on the editorial boards of several journals and has more than 80 publications to his name.

Sara Brown, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Parkview Regional Medical Center and Affiliates (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Dr. Brown serves as chief medical officer for Parkview Regional Medical Center and Affiliates, with primary oversight of Parkview Hospital Randallia’s 224 inpatient beds and an ongoing expansion that will add 120 additional beds, including a level 2 nursery and 82 inpatient psychiatry beds. She partners with physicians, nurses and operational leaders to advance quality, safety and workforce engagement across Parkview’s two largest hospitals. Dr. Brown plays a central role in systemwide initiatives, including workplace violence prevention, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia care standardization, and alcohol withdrawal management redesign. She chairs the hospital’s conduct review board, developing individualized care plans that balance patient access and staff safety, and previously led drug diversion prevention oversight to strengthen controlled substance compliance. For a decade, she has served as medical director of the mobile integrated health program, deploying community paramedics to skilled nursing facilities to reduce unnecessary transfers and support readmission reduction efforts. She also led systemwide projects including the implementation of an online on-call scheduling platform spanning more than 120 schedules, as well as the standardization of code status definitions across 11 hospitals, three partner hospitals and more than 1,000 outpatient providers. A practicing emergency physician for nearly 25 years, Dr. Brown continues to work clinically across 12 emergency departments.

Benjamin Bruinsma, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Dr. Bruinsma has served Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation for more than three decades, including as stroke, amputee and orthopedic rehabilitation medical director, and now leads the system as chief medical officer across five states and 11 inpatient rehabilitation facilities. He oversees integration of the Mary Free Bed Medical Group with acute care partners, expanding access to high-value post-acute services in communities that might otherwise lack rehabilitation resources. Supporting more than 108 providers, Dr. Bruinsma modernized compensation structures to better align teamwork, quality performance and physician wellbeing, elevating engagement to one of the highest levels across the system within two years. He remains clinically active in both inpatient and outpatient settings, reinforcing credibility through hands-on leadership and visible partnership with frontline teams. His governance work within the medical staff office and focus on comprehensive post-acute care pathways have strengthened care continuity beyond inpatient rehabilitation. Dr. Bruinsma is also a fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

David Brumbaugh, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora). As chief medical officer, Dr. Brumbaugh provides clinical leadership for more than 2,000 medical staff caring for approximately 300,000 patients annually across 17 care sites, with responsibility for quality, safety and clinical excellence. He continues to practice pediatric gastroenterology, which helps ground executive decisions in frontline clinical realities and strengthens his advocacy for medical staff. His leadership approach is informed by early-career experience as a rural pediatrician. Clinically, he led the development of specialized care pathways for high-risk conditions such as ingested button batteries and Clostridium difficile infections, and he created the hospital’s communication and reconciliation program to support teams and families after adverse events. His work has also advanced precision medicine for pediatric populations and built reliable systems for onboarding novel therapies with safety and efficacy at the forefront. In addition to mentoring and academic contributions, he hosts the “Charting Pediatrics” podcast, which has nearly 2 million listeners and is now in its ninth season. He holds additional roles including medical director for the Digestive Health Institute and national committee involvement through the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association. 

Craig A. Bunnell, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston). Dr. Bunnell serves as the Morse Family Chief Medical Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he oversees adult and pediatric clinical services and leads strategic clinical operations for the only hospital ranked in the top three nationally by U.S. News & World Report for both adult and pediatric cancer care. Chief medical officer since 2012, Dr. Bunnell has been central to many of Dana-Farber’s most significant operational milestones, including directing Dana-Farber’s clinical response to the Covid-19 pandemic and leading the clinical planning and operational integration for the opening of the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute–Chestnut Hill (Mass.). These facilities expanded capacity, improved patient experience and extended Dana-Farber’s care model as part of a broader regional access strategy. He is now playing a key leadership role as Dana-Farber plans a new dedicated inpatient cancer hospital, which will be the region’s only independent, free-standing hospital for adult patients with cancer. A breast medical oncologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bunnell is widely recognized for advancing improvements in safety, quality and efficiency of care delivery. 

James Burke, MD. System Chief Medical Officer at Adventist Health (Roseville, Calif.). Dr. Burke serves as system chief medical officer for Adventist Health, overseeing the Adventist Health Medical Group and medical operations across a multi-state network of 27 hospitals and more than 430 outpatient clinics, including one of the nation’s largest rural health footprints. He shares system medical director oversight with fellow system CMO Patrick Takahashi, MD, and has focused over the past year on streamlining provider recruitment to expand access across the communities Adventist Health serves. Over several years, Dr. Burke helped grow the network of providers by 125% across three states, strengthening capacity for both ambulatory and hospital-based care. He also serves as medical director for the organization’s accountable care organization, advancing coordination and outcomes through population health and value-based care efforts. A board-certified emergency medicine physician, Dr. Burke maintains clinical shifts in the emergency department and oversees the system’s emergency department service line, reinforcing credibility through visible, frontline leadership. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he helped create a temporary hospital-at-home model to preserve inpatient capacity while meeting patient needs outside traditional hospital walls.

James Butler, MD, PhD. Chief Medical Officer at Oceans Healthcare (Plano, Texas). As chief medical officer, Dr. Butler leads Oceans’ medical teams and oversees the daily clinical operations of its hospitals and outpatient programs, advancing the provider’s mission to deliver much-needed mental health services to underserved communities across the Southeast. Dr. Butler is a practicing psychiatrist and physician leader who brings more than a decade of experience in psychiatry and genetic research to Oceans, ensuring the organization remains at the forefront of the rapidly expanding behavioral health industry. The organization’s relentless commitment to enhancing patient outcomes, combined with Dr. Butler’s strategic leadership and healthcare business acumen, has been crucial in improving access to care and connecting more individuals in need with life-altering mental health services. Prior to his current role, he served as regional medical director where he provided oversight for patient care teams and high-quality improvement efforts for the organization’s Texas locations.

James Callaghan, MD. Chief Medical Officer at West Jefferson Medical Center (Marrero, La.). Dr. Callaghan serves as chief medical officer of West Jefferson Medical Center, providing physician leadership and clinical oversight for a major community hospital. He leads clinical quality, patient safety, evidence-based care delivery and medical staff governance, with oversight of credentialing, peer review, professional practice evaluation and physician engagement. Dr. Callaghan partners with nursing, operations and executive leadership to align clinical practice with organizational goals and strengthen a culture of transparent, accountable governance. An emergency medicine physician by training, he has nearly three decades of service at the medical center, first joining the medical staff in 1994 following his residency. He previously served in multiple medical staff leadership roles, including member-at-large, vice chief of staff and chief of staff, building deep trust across the physician community. Dr. Callaghan’s leadership style emphasizes consensus-building and steady execution, helping teams sustain reliability and patient-centered performance through periods of change.

Benjamin J. Camp, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer for Tanner Health System (Carrollton, Ga.). Dr. Camp is enterprise chief medical officer and chief quality officer at Tanner Health System, where he is tasked with overseeing medical staff services and credentialing. In addition, he handles case management, clinical documentation, risk management, clinical integration, and data and analytics services. He is also the system’s lead physician accountability officer. His work has been key in launching many service lines atypical for rural health systems, including neurosurgery and open-heart surgery. He also played a large role in helping the system’s regional hospitals navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Before assuming his current role, Dr. Camp was senior vice president of medical affairs. 

Joseph Carmichael, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at UCI Health (Orange, Calif.). Dr. Carmichael is chief medical officer and senior vice president at UCI Health. He also serves as professor and chief of the division of colon and rectal surgery at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He is a linchpin in UCI Health’s transformation into a leading academic health system recognized for high-quality, safe care, including numerous Leapfrog “A” hospital grades for its flagship hospital. He leads a physician network across five hospitals and their associated ambulatory locations, and at UCI Health—Orange he leads a physician team with more physicians of excellence recognized by the Orange County Medical Association than any other hospital in the county. The UCI Health inpatient and ambulatory network ranked as a top performer in the 2025 Vizient quality and accountability study, making it one of only five health systems nationally to do so. He is also a colorectal surgeon known for innovative laparoscopic and robot-assisted approaches, as well as complex open abdominal surgery. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and is currently the principal investigator on a phase 3 clinical trial of iltamiocel, a cellular treatment derived from a patient’s own muscle cells, for obstetric injury-related fecal incontinence. Since joining UCI Medical Center in 2010, he has held multiple leadership roles including residency program director, division chief, operating room director, and several cancer and value-analysis governance positions. 

Hijinio Carreon, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of MercyOne Medical Center (Des Moines, Iowa). Dr. Carreon serves as chief clinical officer for MercyOne Medical Center, providing executive leadership across quality and safety, risk and accreditation, pharmacy, graduate medical education, physician advisor programs, and member experience within a multi-market integrated health system. He drives the implementation of strategic performance initiatives focused on reducing serious safety events, strengthening workplace safety, advancing health equity, and optimizing the 340B program to support underserved communities. He has led governance alignment and medical staff bylaw unification while supporting digital integration across thousands of colleagues and millions of annual patient encounters. His leadership emphasizes high reliability, fiscal stewardship, and Lean-informed redesign to enhance both operational sustainability and compassionate care. An emergency physician by training, he brings a deeply personal commitment to equity and access, extending his influence through board service with Proteus and other community organizations. 

Paul Casey, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Rush University System for Health (Chicago). Dr. Casey is in charge of the design, implementation and oversight of Rush’s clinical quality, patient safety and performance improvement initiatives. He is also tasked with overseeing digital transformation efforts, running the enterprise’s pharmacy and lab operations, and managing the transfer center and care management teams. He is also a practicing emergency medicine physician and a professor in the department of emergency medicine. He also served for two years as interim president for Rush University Medical Group for two years before the integrated system medical group was launched.

Hans P. Cassagnol, MD. Senior Vice President and Region Chief Medical Officer for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Tacoma, Wash.). Dr. Cassagnol, in his role at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, leads clinical performance and quality assurance across its hospitals, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective healthcare delivery. He focuses on improving clinical outcomes, overseeing safety initiatives, physician credentialing and performance evaluation. He also acts as a liaison between physicians, administration and community organizations. Before joining the system, he served as chief clinical officer at Catholic Health System in Buffalo, N.Y., where he led significant improvements in patient safety, satisfaction and medical staff restructuring. Dr. Cassagnol is known for his commitment to innovation, clinician experience and patient care. His achievements at CHS include implementing an EHR system during the Covid-19 pandemic and establishing successful residency programs that boosted recruitment and retention.

Teri Caulin-Glaser, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of OhioHealth (Columbus). Dr. Caulin-Glaser is leader of OhioHealth system’s strategy for clinical program development and delivery, including the OhioHealth Physician Group, OhioHealth hospitals, ambulatory centers and service lines. In her role, she oversees clinical strategy, growth, capital and facility expansion, program development and transformational care redesign. She brings over 30 years of experience as a healthcare leader, cardiologist, educator and researcher.

Jeremy Cauwels, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Dr. Cauwels serves as chief medical officer for Sanford Health, the nation’s largest rural health system. There, he represents the interests of 4,500 physicians and advanced practice providers while chairing the system’s quality cabinet and overseeing enterprise medical staff functions and graduate medical education. He leads “Sanford Accountability for Excellence,” a systemwide quality and safety initiative focused on clinical quality, patient safety, employee engagement and physician wellbeing. Under his leadership, Sanford achieved a 72% reduction in serious safety events across the system and sustained improvement in patient experience scores over the past year. Dr. Cauwels has also been instrumental in expanding Sanford’s graduate medical education programs, which now train more than 400 residents and fellows annually, with approximately 40% remaining to practice within the system and strengthening the rural workforce pipeline. A national voice in rural healthcare delivery, he advocates for virtual care and innovative access models to bring high-quality services closer to patients across dispersed communities.

Joseph Chang, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Parkland Health (Dallas). Dr. Chang oversees the hospital and ambulatory clinical care operations for Parkland Health. He also leads the medical staff office operations and graduate medical education program for the health system. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Chang supported Parkland’s clinical team and provided community education through several hundred virtual events and presentations. He leads population health teams and earned the 2021 “Gage Award” for Covid-19 innovations from the National Hospital Association. He is a member of the obstetrics and gynecology faculty at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas as well.

Michael Chang, MD. System Chief Medical Officer and Associate Vice President for Medical Affairs at USA Health (Mobile, Ala.). As system chief medical officer of USA Health, Dr. Chang leads clinical, quality and safety initiatives across the academic health system. Since his appointment in 2018, Dr. Chang has spearheaded efforts to improve care access, safety and efficiency, notably establishing a surgical quality program modeled after the American College of Surgeons’ best practices. He played a key role in USA Health’s 2023 acquisition of Providence Hospital in Mobile, managing medical staff and ensuring a smooth transition. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Chang served as USA Health’s chief adviser and public health spokesperson, providing regular updates and leadership. Under his guidance, USA Health reduced its serious safety event rate, earning the “HX Achievement Award for Serious Safety Event Rate Reduction” from Press Ganey.

Phillip Chang, MD. Chief Medical and Quality Officer at CommonSpirit Health (Chicago). Dr. Chang leads CommonSpirit Health’s systemwide quality and safety strategy, overseeing how care quality is delivered, measured and improved across one of the nation’s largest health systems. He partners with clinical and quality leaders to accelerate performance improvement, strengthen credentialing and peer review, and advance clinician wellness, engagement and development. Under his quality agenda, the system reported broad national recognition in 2025, including 82% of sites earning “A” or “B” Leapfrog hospital safety grades, 55 acute care hospitals recognized by U.S. News & World Report, and 43% of eligible hospitals achieving 4- or 5-star CMS ratings versus a 37% national average. He has also helped drive multi-year clinical gains, including improved blood pressure control for more than 130,000 patients and improved diabetes control for 35,000 patients, along with reductions in mortality for heart failure, stroke and percutaneous coronary intervention and decreases in hospital-acquired infections. A trauma and general surgeon by training, Dr. Chang is known for applying standard improvement methodologies to create durable, systemwide change rather than isolated wins. Nationally, he serves as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges CMO group steering committee and sits on a Vizient steering committee for benchmarking and ranking.

Tina Cheng, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Cheng serves in three critical roles at Cincinnati Children’s. She is chief medical officer, where she oversees clinical services across outpatient, emergency and urgent care visits each year. She is a B.K. Rachford professor and chair of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where she oversees faculty and medical staff across specialty and research divisions. She is director of Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, where she oversees research full-time equivalents and research staff. She has greatly contributed to Cincinnati Children’s clinical outcomes and culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. For 15 years, Dr. Cheng co-led the National Institutes of Health-funded D.C.-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities, the only center focused on children. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, she serves as vice chair of the membership committee for the section on pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, and on the forum for children’s wellbeing.

Robert Cherry, MD. Chief Medical and Quality Officer at UCLA Health (Los Angeles). Dr. Cherry is responsible for quality improvement across UCLA Health’s hospitals and outpatient clinics. The comprehensive program utilizes analytics and advanced computational techniques to enhance clinical quality and safety and improve patient experience. In part because of the program, UCLA Health has been a U.S. News & World Report national honor roll hospital during each year of Dr. Cherry’s tenure, starting in 2014. Dr. Cherry also implemented real-time text messaging to outpatients after each clinical encounter. Approximately 250,000 responses are collected annually, providing feedback to guide rapid service-recovery efforts and contributing to enhanced patient experience. He also serves as chief quality officer for the entire University of California Health system, and several of its academic medical centers have been recognized as top performers in clinical quality and safety by Vizient, the Leapfrog Group and others. Dr. Cherry sits on several government and policy-focused boards, including the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission that advises Congress on Medicare payment policy.

Yvonne Cheung, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Baystate Health (Springfield, Mass.). Dr. Cheung serves as chief medical officer for Baystate Health, leading system efforts to advance quality, patient safety and patient experience through high-reliability practices designed to eliminate preventable harm and reduce unwarranted clinical variation. She oversees system standards, hospitalwide safety programs and evidence-based prevention bundles, translating high-reliability organization principles into daily practice through universal safety skills, leadership development and a fair-and-just culture. Her approach emphasizes transparency about harm events and psychological safety so teams can speak up, while driving accountability through systems design and learning rather than blame. Prior to Baystate, Dr. Cheung held senior quality and safety roles including chief quality and safety officer at Beth Israel Lahey Health–Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. and associate chief medical officer at Mass General Brigham–Newton (Mass.) Wellesley Hospital, where her leadership coincided with multiple Leapfrog “A” grades, CMS 5-star quality ratings and a Blue Cross Center of Excellence designation. She also brings statewide influence as a physician member of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine and chair of its quality and patient safety committee. With training across internal medicine, anesthesiology, public health and business, Dr. Cheung pairs clinical credibility with operational discipline to make safe care the default. Her current work at Baystate links reliability and culture to outcomes such as willingness to recommend, teamwork and workforce stability.

Vincent Chiang, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. With more than three decades of experience at Boston Children’s, Dr. Chiang has been an integral leader of innovation across many high profile initiatives to improve patient care and drive high quality outcomes. These efforts include conservation efforts related to IV fluid shortage, increasing inpatient and operating room bed utilization, leading the enterprisewide EHR implementation and creating a waste reduction program. He heads inpatient medical governance, including management of patient flow across the campus, and provides leadership, management and support for all aspects of physician and clinical practice. He has a keen focus on patient safety and quality, ensuring patients and families receive the highest level of care. In addition to these critical hospital operational functions, he is an active member of the behavioral health leadership collaborative through Children’s Hospital Association, helping to build awareness, advocacy and action to address the ongoing behavioral health crisis. He continues to work clinically as a pediatric hospitalist and pediatric emergency medicine physician and serves as the department of pediatrics vice chair of finance. Prior to his hospital administrative role, he was a physician educator and served as both chief of hospital medicine and director of pediatric education for 20 years.

Chris Chisholm, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Central Puget Sound at Providence Swedish (Seattle). Dr. Chisholm serves as the chief medical officer for Providence Swedish’s Central Puget Sound service area, which comprises hospitals, an ambulatory care center and a freestanding emergency department. He leads a team focused on improving clinical quality, patient safety and experience, and hospital operations. He has implemented operational enhancements that have led to significant financial achievements, with the Swedish Transplant program saving millions and a research program expansion pulling in millions in revenue. During his leadership tenure, Providence Swedish has seen a decrease in length of stay, infection rate decreases, and an improved operating income year over year. Immediately prior to taking on his current role in April 2022, Dr. Chisholm was chief medical officer for Swedish First Hill in Seattle.

Norman C. Christopher, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Pediatric Emergency Services for Christus Children’s Hospital (San Antonio, Texas). Dr. Christopher is chief medical officer and vice president of pediatric emergency services for Christus Children’s. In his role, he provides strategic leadership and direction, sets medical policies and oversees clinical practices. He ensures high-quality care delivery by utilizing talented medical staff, innovative practices and cutting-edge technology. Dr. Christopher is also deeply involved in pediatric research, promoting a culture of innovation within the hospital. His excellence in pediatrics has been recognized throughout the years via awards like the “Elizabeth Spencer Ruppert Outstanding Pediatrician of the Year Award” in 2017, awarded to him by the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Betty S. Chu, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Dr. Chu serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Advocate Health, leading enterprise clinical quality, patient safety and patient experience across 70 hospitals, more than 1,000 sites of care and 167,000 team members serving 6 million patients. She provides strategic leadership to the system’s 50 chief medical officers and partners with division presidents and executive nursing leaders to align priorities, strengthen clinical governance, and advance high reliability and zero-harm performance at scale. Since joining Advocate Health’s enterprise leadership team in August 2023 and later becoming CMO in June 2024, Dr. Chu has helped unify clinical priorities and performance transparency across a newly integrated multistate footprint. Reported results include a 14% reduction in hospital mortality, expanded hypertension and diabetes management for more than 18,500 additional patients, and coordinated readiness during events such as Hurricane Helene. Previously, as senior vice president and chief medical officer at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, she founded a center for patient reported outcomes and developed an enterprise quality index to strengthen transparency and improvement. She also directed Henry Ford’s Covid-19 incident command and vaccine deployment strategy, bringing crisis-tested operational rigor to enterprise care delivery. She currently chairs the American Medical Association’s council on medical service, extending her impact to policy and access issues.

Dai Chung, MD. President and Chief Medical Officer for Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Joint Pediatric Enterprise (Dallas). Dr. Chung is chief medical officer for the Joint Pediatric Enterprise of Children’s Health and UT Southwestern, and also serves as president of the physician organization and chief medical executive for Children’s Health. He also remains actively engaged in patient care. He provides physician-led oversight of clinical operations across pediatric services, aligning stakeholders from both institutions around shared priorities, measures and resources to advance quality, safety, access, experience and cost-efficiency. On a day-to-day basis, he supports leaders with clear goals and metrics while addressing operational challenges such as bed capacity, patient flow and workflow improvement. He championed Children’s Health’s inaugural clinical outcomes report in February 2025, reinforcing transparency, accountability and continuous improvement across specialties and sites. With projections that the Dallas–Fort Worth pediatric population will increase by nearly 700,000 by 2050, the enterprise will play an important role in joint strategic and physician workforce planning. The partnership is also advancing a new $5 billion Dallas pediatric campus spanning more than 33 acres and nearly 5 million square feet to expand inpatient, surgical and ambulatory capacity, and Dr. Chung helped propel priorities including pediatric behavioral health through efforts tied to the Texas Behavioral Health Center and Children’s Health’s $261 million support for the eventual pediatric unit. He was selected for the Society of University Surgeons Lifetime Achievement Award, has authored over 160 academic articles, and delivered the Southern Surgical Association presidential address in December 2025.

Scott Corcoran, MD. Chief Medical Officer for St. Joseph Medical Center (Kansas City, Mo.). Dr. Corcoran brings extensive experience in emergency medicine and leadership to his role as chief medical officer of St. Joseph Medical Center. He is double board-certified in emergency medicine and emergency medical services. In addition to this role, he serves as the hospital’s emergency department medical director and stroke medical director. Prior to joining St. Joseph, he held key healthcare leadership roles, including emergency medical services medical director for Lucas (Texas) Fire and Rescue and emergency department medical director in McKinney, Texas. Dr. Corcoran has been pivotal in improving stroke care and emergency department efficiency at St. Joseph. He focuses on fostering a medical culture of communication, compassion and quality, ensuring patients receive top-tier care.

Michael Cuffe, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.). Dr. Cuffe joined HCA Healthcare in 2011 as president and chief executive officer of physician services. After serving in this role for 10 years, he was appointed chief clinical officer in January 2022. He now oversees clinical agendas for the system’s employed physicians. Before joining HCA, he served as chief medical officer and vice president for ambulatory services at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System. 

Reka Danko, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Saint Mary’s Health Network (Reno, Nev.). Dr. Danko is chief medical officer and hospitalist medical director at Saint Mary’s Health Network, where she leads with a focus on clinical operations, the improvement of critical hospital performance metrics, and physician and payer relations. Throughout her tenure, she has improved physician relations, reduced length of stay, improved patient care documentation and more. Outside of the hospital, she serves as a senior physician advisor for the United States Acute Care Solutions, a peer reviewer for the Nevada State Medical Board, a clinical professor for the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and a published author with two textbook chapters to her name.

Eric M. Deshaies, MD. Vice President, Chief Physician Executive and Chief Medical Officer for AdventHealth Medical Group’s Central Florida Division (Maitland). Dr. Deshaies oversees physician specialists, advanced practice providers and graduate medical physician educators across clinical specialties, clinical practices, and hospitals and emergency rooms. His focus is on patient safety, continuous coordinated delivery of care and quality performance across one of the nation’s largest CMS providers helps ensure a highly valued, highly reliable, clinically integrated specialty network. He leads AI initiatives that support clinical decision-making and operational efficiencies to reduce non-patient facing provider time in the EHR, improve provider experience and elevate quality of care. He created the office of advanced practitioners, serving over 500 advanced practice providers with residencies, recruitment and retention, as well as partnerships with advanced practitioner training schools to improve patient access, peer mentorship and clinical leadership training. He integrated medical group quality and performance improvement with AdventHealth hospitals to focus on whole-person care along the entire patient journey, including access optimization for management of chronic diseases. He oversees medical group compliance, safety and quality teams and expanded psychological safety and wellness programs for providers and team members.

Michael DiStefano, MD. Chief Medical Officer of the Southern Region at Children’s Hospital Colorado (Colorado Springs). Dr. DiStefano serves as chief medical officer for Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Southern Region, overseeing quality and safety across a 115-bed pediatric tertiary hospital, ambulatory specialty clinics and an outpatient behavioral health facility. He partners with Children’s Colorado executives, University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty and community physicians to ensure access to high-quality care across the region. He holds an important community leadership role, directing pediatric response to public health priorities and liaising with emergency medical services and law enforcement. He is also tasked with coordination of care and provider workforce planning. He is credited as a driving force behind launching and staffing a freestanding pediatric hospital in a geographically underserved area, including recruiting clinicians and building clinical departments with no prior footprint in Colorado Springs. As a practicing pediatric emergency medicine physician, he has expanded behavioral health services through outpatient mental health clinics, partial hospitalization, crisis assessments in the pediatric psychiatric emergency department, and increased telehealth coverage for needed pediatric subspecialties. He also developed a novel intake system to improve patient flow and led emergency department discharge improvements, including a 72-hour return quality improvement initiative to reduce emergency department revisits and improve satisfaction. 

John Dorsey, MD. Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Physician Services and Designated Institutional Official at Mercyhealth (Rockford, Ill.). Dr. Dorsey’s leadership can be seen throughout Mercyhealth’s hospitals and primary and specialty care locations. MercyHealth offers more than 125 specialty and subspecialty services. He is also designated institutional official of of Mercyhealth graduate medical education consortium.

Peggy Duggan, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive and Chief Medical Officer at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. Dr. Duggan serves as executive vice president, chief physician executive and chief medical officer for the Florida Health Sciences Center, overseeing physician enterprise functions and systemwide patient care, quality, safety and patient experience across Tampa General Hospital’s academic health system footprint. She leads the system’s clinical and operational strategic pillar as the organization has expanded to more than 150 care locations across Florida and supports seven hospitals, 1,530 beds, and more than 15,000 team members and physicians. Dr. Duggan strengthened systemwide physician alignment to accelerate service line development and the creation of new institutes, extending community impact and access to advanced care. She also led a major redesign of the system’s more than 200 ICU beds, implementing new staffing models and care processes to improve outcomes and drive operational efficiency. Dr. Duggan serves in leadership and advisory roles including the American Hospital Association policy board and the Tampa General Rehab Hospital board chair. 

Stephanie Duggan, MD. Chief Clinical Officer at SSM Health (St. Louis). As chief clinical officer, Dr. Duggan drives strategies to achieve SSM Health’s objectives for exceptional healthcare delivery while helping transform the organization to a value-based care delivery system. She serves as senior leadership’s lead for clinical strategy, clinical operations and care transformation, and she oversees the system’s medical group operations. A board-certified emergency medicine physician, she brings extensive healthcare leadership experience focused on operational excellence and care transformation. She played a key role in the reorganization of SSM Health’s clinical enterprise, including establishing a cabinet to align clinical priorities across the system. She also directed a clinical leadership program designed to enhance multidisciplinary collaboration. Under her leadership, SSM Health achieved significant reductions in hospital-acquired infections. The system has also earned recent recognition, including 10 hospitals named to the Forbes list of top hospitals for 2026.

Dante Durand, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital and Chief of Behavioral Health for Jackson Health System (Miami). Dr. Durand oversees the full spectrum of behavioral health services across Jackson Health System, leading clinical operations, quality oversight, medical staff performance and strategic program development across inpatient, outpatient, emergency and telehealth settings. He built and implemented a systemwide behavioral health service line spanning four hospitals and multiple emergency departments, unifying clinical standards, workflows and patient-centered practices to reduce fragmentation of care. Dr. Durand has led a high-reliability organization transformation at Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital, embedding standardized safety practices and a culture of continuous improvement. His operational initiatives reduced inpatient length of stay from 7 days to 5.6 days within two years through standardized discharge processes, specialized admission guidelines, and strengthened medical clearance and transfer criteria for adult and pediatric populations. He also expanded telepsychiatry across emergency departments and medical-surgical units at four Jackson Health hospitals, improving access to timely psychiatric assessment and reducing boarding. A professor and vice chair of clinical services at the University of Miami, Dr. Durand pairs system execution with academic leadership, publishing and mentoring while advancing workforce development across psychiatry and behavioral health.

Christopher Dussel, MD. Chief Medical Officer of University Hospitals Parma (Ohio) Medical Center. Dr. Dussel is University Hospitals Parma Medical Center’s chief medical officer, a role that blends clinical expertise with administrative acumen to ensure quality healthcare delivery. As the most senior clinical executive, Dr. Dussel leads all medical staff, enforces adherence to best practice, implements clinical policies, oversees recruitment and retention of medical personnel, monitors quality of care, manages the medical department’s budget, helps develop crisis response tactics, assists with strategic planning, and much more. During his tenure, he has been instrumental in recruiting physicians, improving patient satisfaction scores, reducing infection and mortality rates, and leading efforts to earn Leapfrog patient safety “A” ratings and 5-star ratings from CMS.

Teri Dyess, MD. Chief Medical Officer for St. Dominic’s Hospital (Jackson, Miss.). Dr. Dyess, chief medical officer of St. Dominic’s Hospital, has over a decade of experience with the institution, overseeing critical areas like quality, infection control and case management. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, she serves as a physician liaison, supporting initiatives that improve clinical operations and patient care. Dr. Dyess, who was named to her current role in November 2023 after previously serving as co-chief medical officer, is credited with expanding the hospital medicine program at St. Dominic’s from two physicians to 60. Her innovative approaches, such as bedside rounding and the creation of a nocturnist program, have been key to the program’s success. Beyond her administrative duties, Dr. Dyess remains a practicing hospitalist and actively contributes to state-level health initiatives.

Jeffrey Elder, MD. Chief Medical Officer at University Medical Center New Orleans. Dr. Elder is chief medical officer of University Medical Center New Orleans, providing physician leadership for one of Louisiana’s most complex academic medical centers and the region’s only level 1 trauma center. He oversees medical staff governance, clinical quality and patient safety, credentialing, peer review and regulatory readiness while partnering with nursing, operations and academic stakeholders to deliver high-reliability care across emergency, inpatient, outpatient and specialty services. Dr. Elder also serves as associate chief medical officer for emergency management at the broader New Orleans-based LCMC Health system, and as University Medical Center’s medical director for emergency management, leading preparedness, response and recovery efforts that protect continuity of care during disasters and mass-casualty events. A board-certified emergency physician with subspecialty certification in emergency medical services, he has been part of LCMC Health since 2009 and brings an end-to-end view of prehospital and hospital-based emergency care. His leadership includes extensive city, state and national emergency medical services roles, including chairman of the Louisiana Emergency Medical Services Certification Commission and board member of the National Registry of EMTs. He also holds academic appointments at LSU Health and Tulane.

Julia Faller, DO. Chief Medical Officer at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo, N.Y.). Since joining Roswell Park in 2009, Dr. Faller has equipped her teams to deliver outstanding patient care. She has deepened engagement across the cancer center’s clinical teams, applying new ideas and problem-solving approaches shared in daily huddles. She is a driving force behind diversity and inclusion efforts inside and outside Roswell Park, as current co-chair of Erie County Medical Society’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee, past chair of the society’s women’s physicians committee and current executive sponsor for Roswell Park’s Indigenous employee networking and resource group. Partnering with the chief wellness officer, she has helped Roswell Park achieve the prestigious American Medical Association “Joy in Medicine” distinctions. Dr. Faller also traditionally takes part in Empire State Ride, a weeklong, cross-state cycling event to raise funds supporting cutting-edge cancer cures. 

Daniel Feinberg, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia). With an innovative and interdisciplinary approach, Dr. Feinberg has served as chief medical officer for Pennsylvania Hospital at Penn Medicine since 2010. He leads clinical informatics, graduate medical education and advanced practice provider programs for the organization. In his role, he handles quality and process enhancement, patient safety and regulatory compliance. His ultimate goal is to deliver excellent healthcare value to patients spanning the care continuum. 

Stanley B. Fiel, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Health Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center. As chief medical officer of Morristown Medical Center, Dr. Fiel provides medical and clinical leadership and perspective to the senior leadership team, the medical staff and clinical employees across the organization. He supports clinical activities and the highest quality standards while playing a key role in developing and executing business strategies aligned with Atlantic Health’s goals. A distinguished pulmonary and critical care physician and prolific author, he brings deep expertise in academic and teaching-hospital quality programs. He is known for leading process improvement through priority setting, performance assessment, implementation and sustainment. The medical center has earned exceptional external recognition under his leadership, including being the only New Jersey hospital named one of Healthgrades’ “50 Best Hospitals” for 10 consecutive years and ranking No. 1 in New Jersey and No. 51 in the U.S. on Newsweek‘s “World’s Best Hospitals” list. He also played a key leadership role in earning an “A” Leapfrog hospital safety grade 21 consecutive times. The medical center was also recognized by Fortune/Premier’s “100 Top Hospitals,” ranking No. 2 among major U.S. teaching hospitals. In addition to his executive role, he serves as a professor of medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and has extensive experience building relationships with external entities to advance quality standards and value-based care readiness.

James Fiorica, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System. Dr. Fiorica has served as chief medical officer of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System since September 2017, acting as the primary medical liaison between hospital administration and approximately 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers, as well as 11,000 team members. He oversees safety and quality initiatives across a community-owned public health system that includes two full-service hospital campuses, with another on the way, and a broad network of facilities and services. He is responsible for key clinical performance indicators and standards that support patient outcomes and safe care delivery, and he partners with leadership on strategic planning for countywide care needs. He has helped advance major system developments, including a trauma center, the Venice (Fla.) campus, the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute, and graduate medical education programs. He’s also tasked with overseeing research operations at the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute. A board-certified gynecologic oncologist and OB/GYN who joined the system in 2005, he helped develop women’s cancer care and research and supported the robotic surgery program for gynecologic cancer patients. Under his clinical leadership, the system’s research and education footprint has expanded significantly, including opening the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute in April 2025 and growing active clinical studies to more than 150. He also serves as the system’s patient safety officer, and directs both women’s cancer care research and the cancer genetics program.

Neil Fishman, MD. Chief Medical Officer of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). For nearly a decade, Dr. Fishman has served as CMO for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also board certified in internal medicine and infectious disease. He specializes in healthcare infection control and epidemiology. He is a past chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s healthcare infection control practices advisory committee.

Keith Foster, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Baptist Bethesda East and West Hospitals (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Dr. Foster oversees medical operations for Baptist Bethesda East and West Hospitals, ensuring high standards of patient care and fostering a collaborative environment for team members. In addition, he is associate dean for academic affairs and clinical affiliate assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University School of Medicine, actively shaping the next generation of medical professionals. Outside of his leadership roles, he is a published researcher with work on monoclonal antibodies for Covid-19 published in The American Journal of Medicine. Prior to joining Baptist Bethesda, Dr. Foster was regional chief medical officer for Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Harris Frankel, MD. Chief Medical and External Affairs Officer at Nebraska Medicine (Omaha). Dr. Frankel has over three decades of leadership experience in physician practice, hospital and health system settings. As chief medical officer, he serves as a resource to administration and providers, working to ensure the diverse interests of Nebraska Medicine’s medical staff are represented in health system initiatives and decisions. He oversees and engages with physician leadership to promote improvement in physician wellness and experience with Nebraska Medicine’s physician burnout rate well below the Association of American Medical Colleges rate. He leads the development of Nebraska Medicine’s strategic clinical relationships across the state and shares his expertise in statewide health policy and regulation. In his external affairs role, he recently led a partnership agreement between Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska athletics, and extended the branding of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center to three locations across the state. The newest cancer center location in Kearney, Neb. opened in December 2024. In addition to his roles for Nebraska Medicine, Dr. Frankel is an associate professor in the neurological sciences department for University of Nebraska Medical Center and maintains an active neurology patient practice.

Ernest Franklin, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Operations Officer at Tenet Healthcare (Dallas). Dr. Franklin joined Tenet Healthcare in 2019 after eight years at Baylor Scott & White Health, also based in Dallas. There, he spent time as senior vice president of clinical value and integration. Dr. Franklin also oversaw surgical and ancillary services for Baylor Scott & White Health and previously served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company for six years.

James Frazier, MD. System Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Norton Healthcare (Louisville, Ky.). Dr. Frazier elevates clinical quality strategies and ensures patient care and safety at Norton Healthcare. Since joining the organization in 2008, Dr. Frazier has served as a staff physician, vice president of medical affairs, and was named chief medical officer in 2022. He began his career as the system’s first hospitalist medical director and has helped to grow the hospitalist service to more than 100 providers who care for patients in all Norton Healthcare hospitals. In his current role, Dr. Frazier continues using principles for high-reliability, safety and quality metrics to help drive improvement among the system’s more than 400 locations of care in Kentucky and Indiana, including nine hospitals. The system also is in the process of planning one of the nation’s largest and most innovative pediatric healthcare campuses, in addition to its Norton Children’s Hospitals, Kentucky’s only free-standing children’s hospital. Dr. Frazier has been recognized by the National Kidney Foundation with its “Making Lives Better Award” and the American Heart Association’s “Making a Difference” award. 

Dean French, MD. Chief Medical Officer at ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.). As ScionHealth’s first chief medical officer following the system’s formation in 2021, Dr. French provides strategic leadership over physician, clinical and quality strategies across 63 long-term acute care specialty hospitals and 14 short-term acute care community hospital campuses. He leads efforts to establish ScionHealth as a national leader in quality and patient safety while supporting a nationwide team of approximately 21,000 caregivers and healthcare professionals. In 2023, he oversaw the creation and implementation of ScionHealth’s first national quality program, establishing systemwide standards and categories of measurement for clinical quality across all 77 hospitals, guided by six descriptors: safe, timely, effective, patient-centered, efficient and equitable. He also led the successful integration of clinical operations for 15 specialty hospitals into ScionHealth’s specialty hospital division in 2023, following ScionHealth’s acquisition of Cornerstone Healthcare Group. He was instrumental in launching ScionHealth’s inaugural “Caregiver Summit” in 2022, serving as emcee and continuing to recognize caregivers across the organization annually. Dr. French has also supported ongoing Joint Commission disease-specific certifications across Kindred Hospitals and community hospitals, including Kindred Hospital San Antonio Central becoming the first Kindred Hospital to earn wound care certification in 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces, he also brings prior CEO and chief medical officer experience across multiple hospitals and systems.

Alan Friedman, MD. Chief Medical Experience Officer for Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System. Dr. Friedman became the chief medical experience officer for Yale New Haven Health in August 2019, leading efforts to enhance patient and physician experiences. A professor of pediatrics specializing in cardiology at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Friedman also oversees the medical staff professionalism peer review process and the “Communication Leads to Early Resolution” program. Since joining Yale New Haven Hospital as a pediatric cardiology fellow in 1991, he has held numerous leadership roles, including president of the medical staff, director of the pediatric residency program, and interim chief of pediatric cardiology. Prior to his current role, he served as the medical director for medical affairs at the system. His clinical interests span anemia, sickle cell disease, congenital heart defects, echocardiography and pediatric cardiology.

Joseph M. Galante, MD. Chief Medical Officer of UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Galante leads and directs the professional portion of the acute care teaching hospital’s clinical delivery system and serves as a liaison between the hospital, school of medicine and the self-governed medical staff. He also is the medical center’s senior officer for patient safety and quality. He leads clinical affairs for departments across the medical center, handles funds-flow between the hospital and medical school, and manages quality and operational enhancements. 

Brian J. Galofaro, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Our Lady of the Angels Health (Bogalusa, La.). As chief medical officer of Our Lady of the Angels Health, part of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, Dr. Galofaro oversees clinical operations, quality and the medical staff for a rural full-service hospital and affiliated clinics. His responsibilities include integrating national patient safety goals, standardizing clinical pathways, strengthening high-reliability performance and advancing physician engagement, empowerment and psychological safety. He is clinical faculty for LSU and Tulane medical schools and serves in market-level medical director roles supporting service-line strategy, outcomes and financial performance. He also helped expand access through telehealth, developed higher-acuity service lines, launched a hospitalist program to improve throughput and continuity, and grew the employed physician group from four to more than 100 providers. A signature contribution is a proprietary readmission predictive model reported to meaningfully reduce readmissions and improve outcomes. During Covid-19, he coordinated testing, vaccination and treatment operations with local government and university partners, earning recognition as a trusted rural-health voice. Transformative accomplishments under his stewardship include achieving Louisiana’s only CMS 5-star Hospital rating in 2024, earning the organization’s first Leapfrog safety grade “A,” obtaining Birth Ready Plus certification, and securing recognition on Newsweek‘s list of “America’s Best Maternity Hospitals.”

Orlando Garcia, DO. Chief Medical Officer at Jackson South Medical Center (Miami). In his role, Dr. Garcia oversees the daily operations of Jackson South Medical Center. Dr. Garcia has multiple publications residing in The Journal of Laryngology and Otology, The Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, and in Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Garcia has been involved with countless community service projects, striving to better the greater area of Miami-Dade, and to this day participates in Emmaus Medical Missions.

Renee Garrick, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Westchester Medical Center Health Network (Valhalla, N.Y.). As chief medical officer of WMCHealth, Dr. Garrick is responsible for the oversight of WMCHealth’s medical staff and clinical programs. As a practicing nephrologist and a professor of clinical medicine with more than 35 years of experience, Dr. Garrick supplies an expert perspective that drives WMCHealth’s best practices. During Dr. Garrick’s tenure, the health system has grown significantly. Her achievements include pioneering a networkwide credentialing and communication system that connects the medical staffs of all WMCHealth hospitals to improve operational integration and enables physicians on staff at other hospitals to secure associate privileges at the flagship Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Garrick has helped WMCHealth obtain several million dollars in grants to support these critical initiatives.

Shai Gavi, DO. Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Medical Group (Morristown, N.J.). Dr. Gavi serves as chief medical officer for Atlantic Medical Group, a large multispecialty physician enterprise with 1,600 clinicians, including 1,098 physicians, across 455 practice sites statewide. He leads clinical quality, patient safety, patient experience and credentialing, while partnering with medical center chief medical officers across Atlantic Health System to strengthen continuumwide performance and alignment. Dr. Gavi oversees five regional councils and 30 work groups led by regional medical directors, creating scalable governance for ambulatory quality and patient-centered outcomes. He is recognized for advancing best-in-class patient experience, physician communication skills and engagement, and for leading efforts to reduce clinician burnout that culminated in the American Medical Association’s “Joy in Medicine” recognition for Atlantic Health. Under his performance-improvement approach, the medical group has achieved top-decile ambulatory quality and continued rapid growth, adding new sites across New Jersey in 2025, including revitalizing vacant retail space into community-based primary care access points. Previously, Dr. Gavi built an integrated, systemwide hospitalist program at Atlantic Health, now 90 hospitalists and 25 advanced practice clinicians supporting more than 900 daily patient encounters, while serving as system medical director of hospital medicine.

Barry Gendron, DO. Chief Medical Officer at Huggins Hospital (Wolfeboro, N.H.). Dr. Gendron has served as chief medical officer of Huggins Hospital, a 25-bed critical access community hospital, since December 2022, providing clinical leadership and administrative direction tied to quality, growth, operational strength and community health. He remains an active practicing physiatrist while leading the organization, sustaining a “Top Doctor” designation in physical medicine and rehabilitation by fellow New Hampshire physicians for 20 consecutive years. Since joining the executive team, Dr. Gendron has driven modernization initiatives, including transitioning from 24-hour in-house hospitalist coverage to an integrated telehealth night-coverage model. He also championed a surgical readiness program to better tailor preoperative care to patient needs, and supported the hospital’s transition to the Meditech EHR. Colleagues recognized his impact on governance and alignment with a “Medical Staff Award” for strengthening cooperation between the hospital and its medical staff. With academic appointments at the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Gendron brings multidisciplinary expertise that translates strategy into measurable operational and clinical improvements.

Chris Ghaemmaghami, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive, and Chief Clinical Officer at Jackson Health System (Miami). Dr. Ghaemmaghami, whose medical background is in emergency medicine, works closely with Jackson’s hospital-based chief medical officers, and oversees clinical strategic development, research and grants, quality, safety, risk, regulatory affairs, medical staff services, and graduate medical education. He also works with UHealth – University of Miami Health System in continuing to develop streamlined care delivery models across both organizations. He has an extensive history of working compassionately and competently with a diverse patient population, and has a focus on quality, safety and effective communication.

William M. Gilbirds II, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Saint Luke’s Care, Saint Luke’s North and Critical Access Hospitals (Kansas City, Mo.). Dr. Gilbirds serves as CMO for Saint Luke’s North and four critical access hospitals across Kansas and Missouri, providing strategic and clinical leadership across diverse community and rural settings within Saint Luke’s Health System–BJC West Region. A board-certified family physician with geriatric qualifications and more than 30 years of experience, he champions quality, safety, credentialing modernization and physician engagement initiatives aligned with system priorities. In 2020, he served as physician champion for the launch of a centralized credentialing committee spanning eight hospitals, streamlining delegated payer enrollment processes, reducing administrative burden and driving significant revenue improvement. He also serves as CMO of Saint Luke’s Care, a physician-led organization aligning more than 900 employed and independent physicians through evidence-based practice teams across 13 specialties to reduce variation and advance value-based care. Under his leadership, Saint Luke’s Care has become a regional model for clinical integration supported by advanced informatics and standardized pathways. Dr. Gilbirds is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel and graduate of advanced healthcare delivery improvement training.

Jonathan Gleason, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Prisma Health (Greenville, S.C.). Dr. Gleason stepped into his role in January 2022. He is responsible for the enterprise leadership of the medical group, clinical quality, patient safety, clinical integration and optimization, and the academic enterprise. Prior to joining Prisma, Dr. Gleason was executive vice president and chief clinical officer, endowed James D. and Mary Jo Danella chief quality officer, and chair of JeffCare Network board at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia.

Sandip Godambe, MD, PhD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (Calif.). Dr. Godambe leads activities involving medical staff, quality, patient safety, regulatory affairs, performance excellence, and risk and accreditation for the pediatric healthcare system. Since joining Children’s Hospital of Orange County in 2021, he has launched several initiatives to enhance continuous process improvements, integrate services and people enterprisewide, and address physician and staff burnout. As a former senior advisor with the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program and an improvement advisor and fellow with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, he created a formal improvement science curriculum branded “CHOC Way.” Practical training, mentorship and consulting in improvement science is provided to empower physicians and staff to enhance clinical outcomes, patient care access, and the patient and family experience. He is also helping lead CHOC’s efforts to cultivate a happy and empowered workforce utilizing the institute’s “joy in work” framework. Dr. Godambe has contributed to the public’s knowledge in emergency medicine, quality and immunology by authoring numerous publications. He is an editor of the 2017 Pediatric Emergency Medicine Question Book and the 2019 5-Minute Fleisher and Ludwig’s Pediatric Emergency Medicine Consult.

Jason Golbin, DO. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Catholic Health (Rockville Centre, N.Y.). Dr. Golbin serves as executive vice president and chief medical officer of Catholic Health on Long Island, responsible for developing and implementing executive clinical strategy across six hospitals, an ambulatory outpatient network, and other facilities and programs. He partners with executive leadership to ensure rigorous standards of clinical practice with quality and safety as the top priorities. He drove major strides in safety through an internal campaign launched in 2015 to address serious safety events and promote high reliability, including reinforcing safety as a core value and standardizing daily principles. In February 2025, Catholic Health received Press Ganey’s 2025 “HRO Foundation Award” recognizing its commitment to high-reliability organization principles, and St. Charles Hospital received Press Ganey’s 2024 “Human Experience Achievement for Zero Harm Award” after at least a year without a serious safety event. He also holds external leadership roles including the American Hospital Association’s committee on clinical leadership and the Press Ganey physician advisory council. Prior to becoming executive vice president and chief medical officer, he served as Catholic Health’s senior vice president, chief quality officer and chief patient experience officer, and previously held other chief medical officer and critical care leadership roles within the system. He is also a clinical professor at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine and serves on its alumni advisory board.

Chris M. Gonzalez, MD. Regional Chief Clinical Officer for Trinity Health Illinois/Indiana (Maywood, Ill.). Dr. Gonzalez serves as regional chief clinical officer for Trinity Health’s Illinois/Indiana region, which includes Maywood, Ill.-based Loyola Medicine and South Bend, Ind.-based Saint Joseph Health System, providing strategic oversight of clinical integration, quality, safety and performance across hospitals, ambulatory sites, academic programs and the medical group. As the senior physician executive for the region, he oversees more than 1,200 physicians and directs hospital chief medical officers, population health leaders, graduate medical education and academic department chairs to align clinical operations with systemwide goals. He leads recruitment, credentialing, provider compensation strategy, regulatory compliance and resource allocation while serving as the primary liaison among Loyola University Chicago, the Edward Hines (Ill.) Jr. VA Hospital and executive leadership. Under his leadership, the region has expanded specialty and primary care access, strengthened ambulatory growth and advanced a coordinated, patient-centered model that integrates academic expertise with community-based care. He drives regionwide quality and safety initiatives, overseeing performance improvement programs that elevate outcomes across Illinois and Indiana. Nationally recognized in urology, he chairs the department of urology, serves as a trustee and incoming president of the American Board of Urology, and received the prestigious “Barringer Medal” for excellence in cancer research.

David Gonzales, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Christus St. Vincent (Sante Fe, N.M.). Since accepting the role of CMO in 2020, Dr. Gonzales has been responsible for quality, safety, and risk, as well as infection control and physician relations, for the Christus St. Vincent Health System. Prior to his appointment, he served on the board of directors there for seven years and was president of the medical staff. Dr. Gonzales’ expertise is in inpatient operational processes as they pertain to quality and patient satisfaction. He serves on the governor’s medical advisory team and oversees the delivery of patient care by medical staff members, serving more than 300,000 people across seven counties in northern New Mexico.

Timothy G. Groover, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fla.). Dr. Groover serves as the senior physician executive for Baptist Health, overseeing the full scope of physician practice across a six-hospital system and more than 3,000 providers in over 60 specialty areas. His responsibilities include using data-driven best practices to enhance clinical, operational and service excellence, identify and eliminate health care disparities, and strengthen clinical integration through physician collaboration. He also oversees medical informatics, clinical data management and decision support, co-chairs the system’s institutional review committee for clinical research activities, and leads the continuing medical education program for physicians. His leadership history at Baptist Health includes rising from staff anesthesiologist to chief of staff at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and president of Baptist Physician Enterprise, a clinically integrated network of more than 1,200 local providers. In 2021, he restructured the physician enterprise compensation model to move beyond purely productivity-based approaches by embedding performance measures aligned with system strategy. He also holds multiple community and governance roles, including board service for Baptist Health and Brunswick, Ga.-based Coastal Community Health, leadership with the Duval County Medical Society, and education and community commitments through The KIPP Jacksonville School and Greater Refuge Temple of Jacksonville.

Howard Grossman, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Spectrum Medical Care Center (Phoenix). Dr. Grossman serves as chief medical officer for Spectrum Medical Care, leading clinical quality, provider leadership and care delivery strategy for an organization serving LGBTQ+ individuals and people living with or at risk for HIV across the Phoenix area. He oversees primary care, HIV prevention and treatment, sexual health, gender-affirming care and expanding services including women’s health and aging care, standardizing evidence-based, culturally competent practices across the care continuum. A nationally recognized healthcare leader with more than 40 years of experience, Dr. Grossman treated some of the nation’s first AIDS patients and has led HIV-focused clinics in major cities across the country. He previously served as executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine and helped advance one of the first credentialing pathways defining HIV specialist expertise. In Phoenix, his leadership is helping strengthen clinical infrastructure and expand access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, STI services and integrated primary care amid rising HIV prevention needs. By pairing deep clinical expertise with public health advocacy and inclusion-centered care models, Dr. Grossman has positioned Spectrum as a trusted, affirming access point for high-need populations.

Jacques L. Guillot, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Lakeview Hospital (Covington, La.). Dr. Guillot provides physician leadership and clinical oversight for Lakeview Hospital, advancing clinical quality, patient safety, medical staff engagement and evidence-based care across inpatient and outpatient services. He oversees medical staff governance, credentialing, peer review and professional practice evaluation while partnering with nursing and operational leaders to translate quality priorities into sustainable clinical practice. Board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, Dr. Guillot brings more than 22 years of experience spanning primary care, hospital medicine and physician leadership, with longstanding service to the community since joining the medical staff in 1995. He has held key medical staff leadership roles, including chief of staff, chairman of the department of medicine and medical executive committee member, helping strengthen physician alignment and governance. Dr. Guillot also helped drive physician-led, data-informed improvement on core measures that have ranked among the highest within the overall LCMC Health system, based in New Orleans. He is a longtime volunteer clinical faculty member at LSU School of Medicine.

Kristy Haggett, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital–St. Charles and Wentzville (St. Louis). Dr. Haggett oversees medical staff affairs, quality safety and regulatory affairs at SSM Health campuses. She collaborates with medical staff leaders to enhance patient outcomes, reduce readmissions and improve the patient experience. She works closely with the emergency department, hospital medicine and critical care teams to improve care transitions. Dr. Haggett has also played a key role in developing a new care model for behavioral health patients. Her previous roles include chair of the department of pediatrics at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton, Mo. and medical director of SSM Health Glennon Care Pediatrics in St. Louis.

Lakshmi Halasyamani, MD. Chief Clinical Officer for Endeavor Health (Evanston, Ill.). Dr. Halasyamani serves as chief clinical officer of Endeavor Health, where she leads systemwide clinical strategy focused on delivering safe, seamless and personal care grounded in equity and evidence-based practice. A practicing internal medicine physician, she oversees initiatives spanning quality, patient safety, population health and value-based care while ensuring equitable access remains central to operational and clinical decision-making. She led the organization’s evolution into one of Illinois’ largest value-based care networks, integrating independent physician groups into a single clinically integrated network now managing more than 400,000 value-based lives. Through her “lens of equity” framework, she has implemented data-driven strategies that identify and close disparities at the neighborhood level, improving outcomes in areas such as mammography screening, diabetes control, hypertension management and readmissions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she guided coordinated clinical efforts to maintain safe access for patients with urgent and advanced conditions, all while serving as a trusted voice to the community. She has also championed adoption of innovations such as ambient AI documentation to reduce administrative burden and strengthen the physician–patient relationship.

Mandy Grubb Halford, MD. Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Informatics Officer at Covenant Health (Knoxville, Tenn.). Dr. Halford leads clinical operations, oversees service lines and spearheads quality improvement across Covenant Health’s clinically integrated enterprise, serving as the primary liaison to more than 1,500 affiliated physicians. Her responsibilities include developing clinical protocols, influencing policy, advancing physician development and ensuring patient safety, regulatory compliance, medical staff affairs and graduate medical education oversight. As Covenant Health’s first CMIO, she aligns clinical strategy with technology strategy, partnering with IT leadership on operational, personnel and financial stewardship for IT and clinical informatics. She is responsible for major safety gains, including the system’s best year for clinical quality in 2023 and a 19% reduction in harm events in 2024, contributing to nearly a quarter of the decade-long decline. Under her leadership, Covenant acute-care hospitals earned Tennessee Hospital Association “Zero Harm Awards” for two consecutive years. They also routinely achieve strong Leapfrog safety grades. She has advanced workforce development, helping establish clinical rotation sites and launching a new family medicine residency program in 2023. In addition, she’s played a role in expanding telehealth offerings such as tele-psych and tele-nephrology, and has supported initiatives like tele-ICU and advanced care at home. Dr. Halford was honored by YWCA Knoxville in 2023 for contributions in science, health and technology.

Stephanie Hall, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital (Los Angeles). Dr. Hall works closely with physicians, interprofessional clinical staff and medical center leadership to drive initiatives in support of the organization’s strategic priorities. Since Dr. Hall started in her role in 2013, she has overseen effective, innovative safety improvements throughout the hospitals. The hospitals are primarily surgical hospitals providing tertiary care, treating the highest case mix index among academic medical centers. Her leadership has led to achievements including earning Keck Hospital of USC its first-ever overall 5-star CMS quality rating and guiding Norris Cancer Hospital to be named Leapfrog Top Teaching Hospital for three years in a row. Dr. Hall also maintains her associate professorship of clinical emergency medicine in the USC department of emergency medicine. She also serves as associate dean for clinical affairs for the Keck Medical Center.

Kamran Hamid, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital (Melrose Park, Ill.). Dr. Hamid, CMO at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, leads a team of medical professionals. He also manages an active orthopaedic surgery practice that specializes in trauma and foot and ankle procedures. He has spearheaded a strategic focus on acute care and ambulatory surgery at the hospital, restructuring physician roles and improving staffing to enhance patient admissions during non-peak hours. Under his leadership, the hospital has expanded its emergency and hospitalist services, providing comprehensive care that includes rehabilitation and skilled nursing. The hospital has also pioneered minimally invasive treatments for focal prostate cancer and advanced its robotic surgery capabilities. Dr. Hamid, recognized for his surgical mentorship, received the “Teacher of the Year” award at Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center in 2020.

Robert Hart, MD. Chief Physician Executive at Ochsner Health and President of Ochsner Clinic (New Orleans). Dr. Hart leads the medical staff and builds relationships between Ochsner’s varied stakeholders to promote a cohesive strategy among Ochsner’s group practice, affiliated physicians and advanced practice providers. He is also responsible for integrating and aligning Ochsner’s employed, affiliated and independent physicians at the organization’s teaching facilities, community hospitals and clinics. In 2017, he helped to launch Ochsner’s chief wellness officer role in response to ongoing provider burnout rates.

J. Edward Hartle, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Geisinger (Danville, Pa.). Dr. Hartle is at the forefront of rethinking healthcare models and leads Geisinger’s continued development of value-based care that emphasizes health and wellness. He oversaw the inception of Geisinger’s “65 Forward” program, which offers the Medicare-age population affordable, high-quality care, along with fitness and socialization. Geisinger’s 65 Forward Health Centers have lowered hospitalization rates and emergency department visit rates for seniors, and the clinics see exceptional patient experience scores. He also led Geisinger’s primary care redesign with clinics staffed by interdisciplinary teams that elevate the level of care patients receive, including longer appointments and intermediate care services like IV infusions and behavioral health services available in the clinic. The redesign is also focused on EHR solutions, enabling physicians to spend more time with patients and less time on administrative tasks that contribute to burnout.

David Hasleton, MD. Chief Clinical Officer for the Richmond (Va.) Market at Bon Secours. Dr. Hasleton serves as chief clinical officer for the Bon Secours Richmond Market, overseeing clinical operations across a medical group of approximately 500 providers in 125 clinics, as well as seven hospitals. He is responsible for financial performance, clinical quality, patient safety and outcomes across both ambulatory and acute care settings. He leads market-wide quality and patient safety initiatives and oversees standardized service line strategies to align physician practices with hospital-based care. Known for his structured, data-driven approach, he emphasizes physician alignment, operational accountability, communication, analytics and quality outcomes as core components of service line success. He actively engages physicians and advanced practice clinicians in dialogue to address clinical and cultural challenges, reinforcing shared accountability and provider engagement. Prior to joining Bon Secours, he served as chief medical officer for Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health, where he led clinical integration and improved operational outcomes across a multi-state system, including reducing stroke treatment times and enhancing pediatric care delivery. Board-certified in emergency medicine, he maintains active clinical practice as an attending physician and serves as an adjunct clinical professor.

John Heaton, MD. President and Chief Medical Officer at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Dr. Heaton serves as president and chief medical officer of LCMC Health, providing system-level physician executive leadership across quality, patient safety, case management, utilization management and population health. He partners with hospital CEOs, CNOs and physician leaders to establish clinical standards, strengthen governance and drive performance improvement across hospitals, service lines and care settings. Dr. Heaton’s career reflects a progression from frontline anesthesiology leadership to enterprise oversight, having joined Children’s Hospital New Orleans in 2000 and later serving as its senior vice president and chief medical officer after leadership roles in patient safety and quality. In his system role, he has been instrumental in aligning peer review and professional practice evaluation processes to improve consistency and reduce unwarranted care variation. Dr. Heaton is known as a collaborative leader who builds physician engagement during change through transparent communication, consensus-building and steady operational discipline. He is committed to medical education, serving as a clinical faculty member at LSU and Tulane, strengthening workforce development across the region.

Jason Heavner, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center (Glen Burnie). Dr. Heavner serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer of University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, leading the physician enterprise, medical staff services, the UM Baltimore Washington Medical Group, population health and academic research. He has executive responsibility for more than 1,400 medical providers across employed and community clinicians and University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty, spanning specialties from primary care and hospital medicine to cardiology, pulmonology, critical care, oncology, neuroscience and women’s health. A practicing pulmonologist and critical care physician, Dr. Heavner brings frontline perspective to enterprise strategy and has led investments in advanced clinical services and technology to improve decision-making and coordination. He helped develop and implement the sepsis-recovery pathway collaborative for post-acute transitions to skilled nursing facilities, reducing 30-day readmissions in the pilot to 20% versus a 29% baseline and supporting broader adoption across Maryland and Delaware. He aligned heart and lung specialty practices into an integrated cardiopulmonary care location with expanded diagnostics and support services to improve access and collaboration. Under his leadership, the medical center rapidly expanded its research portfolio from fewer than 50 to more than 200 active studies in under two years and embedded innovation via “SPARQ Tank,” now in its third year, funding frontline-driven projects such as needlestick reduction and programs for food-insecure patients. Previously, he transformed the ICU into a top-performing unit statewide and led the hospital to become the first in the world to implement the percutaneous ultrasound gastrostomy bedside feeding-tube procedure, while also launching a critical care advanced practice provider residency program to strengthen workforce sustainability.

James Helstrom, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Dr. Helstrom brings a focus on patient safety and quality outcomes to his role as chief medical officer for Fox Chase Cancer Center. Since taking on the role in 2014, he has provided leadership, direction and planning for all of the hospital’s clinical activities. He also actively supervises quality, process and performance improvement programs, as well as the tumor registry and clinical analytics. Following incidents that threaten patient safety, Dr. Helstrom employs a root cause analysis process to address and correct potential sources of risk in the clinic. In addition to his executive role, he is a practicing anesthesiologist. 

Victor Herrera, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at AdventHealth Central Florida Division (Orlando). Dr. Herrera oversees clinical operations, quality and safety across more than 20 hospitals and emergency rooms within one of the nation’s largest CMS provider networks. Under his leadership, the division prevented 330 readmissions, delivered improved care for 21,700 patients, and recruited more than 400 physicians in 2025, exceeding the annual goal and strengthening access to care for the communities the division serves. Dr. Herrera also leads clinical transformation efforts as chair of AdventHealth’s AI advisory board, aligning clinical strategy with responsible innovation to enhance care delivery, support physicians and strengthen clinical culture across Central Florida. This consistent focus on care delivery and outcomes has earned national recognition with AdventHealth Orlando being recognized by U.S. News & World Report on its annual “Honor Roll” as one of the nation’s best hospitals for 2025–2026 and No. 1 in Florida. The division’s emphasis on safety and trust is further reflected in its national safety performance. In the fall of  2025, six AdventHealth facilities received Leapfrog “Straight‑A Designation” for the fifth consecutive time.

K. Sarah Hoehn, MD. Chief Medical Officer of La Rabida Children’s Hospital (Chicago). In 2022, Dr. Hoehn became chief medical officer for La Rabida Children’s Hospital. She is responsible for facilitating the delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centric care throughout the whole entire care continuum. Before joining the hospital’s executive leadership team, she was a member of the medical staff since 2019. She is board-certified in pediatric critical care medicine, pediatrics, pediatric hospice and palliative medicine. 

Larry H. Hollier, Jr., MD. President of Health Affairs at Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston). In his role, which is the system equivalent to chief medical officer, Dr. Hollier provides systemwide physician leadership, overseeing quality and safety while advancing physician engagement and performance. He also serves as the physician leader for the Texas Children’s Physician Organization, which aligns clinical leadership across the system. As surgeon-in-chief, he leads one of the nation’s largest pediatric surgical enterprises, delivering care for patients from across the U.S. and around the world with complex congenital, reconstructive and rare conditions across surgical subspecialties. He oversees a multidisciplinary department of surgery with approximately 160 surgeons and more than 900 team members. Under his leadership, the department performs approximately 54,000 surgeries annually, including more than 140 solid-organ transplants, across 40 state-of-the-art operating rooms. A board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Hollier also serves as the S. Baron Hardy Chair in Plastic Surgery and professor of plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a nationally recognized academic and educator, and chairs Smile Train’s medical advisory board. Texas Children’s Hospital is continually named Texas’ top pediatric hospital and an honor roll top 10 children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report.

Gene Hong, MD. Chief Physician Executive of MUSC Health and MUSC Physicians (Charleston, S.C.). Dr. Hong is the highest ranking physician at MUSC Health, a system that has tripled in size over the past four years. He is a co-champion of the system’s clinical service lines. The academic physician practice plan, for which Dr. Hong serves as CEO, has seen clinical revenue growth over the past five-plus years. He is a leading authority on concussions, cardiac issues in athletes, overuse injuries and sports-injury prevention. He previously served at Drexel University in Philadelphia as an endowed chair and professor in the department of family, community and preventive medicine. Dr. Hong also served as chief of the division of primary care sports medicine, chair of the Drexel University physician board, and associate dean for primary care and community health at the university.

Jonathan Huntington, MD, PhD. Chief Medical Officer for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, N.H.). Dr. Huntington was named chief medical officer for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in February 2021. He is currently an assistant professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and works clinically as a hospitalist. He is responsible for clinical and physician-related tasks and, in partnership with the CNO and senior vice president for clinical operations, oversees and coordinates cross-disciplinary hospital functions and applies system policies related to physicians. As a co-leader of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s Throughput Access for Patients Project, he aims to maximize efficiency and throughput in the medical center to ensure exceptional service for patients.

Syed Hussain, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Trinity Health Of New England (Hartford, Conn.). Dr. Syed Hussain serves as senior vice president and chief clinical officer for Trinity Health Of New England, overseeing patient safety, quality, regulatory affairs, medical staff services, risk management, infection prevention, care management, graduate medical education, clinical research and community health across four acute care hospitals and an acute rehabilitation facility. He plays a central role in strategic decision-making for clinical service lines throughout the region, and leads systemwide coordination to improve performance and outcomes. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he served as regional incident commander, guiding operations through unprecedented challenges and earning recognition as a “Healthcare Hero” by the Hartford Business Journal. He has driven the regionalization of quality, safety and clinical care coordination initiatives while advancing integration of service lines across the market. As accountable executive for Trinity Health’s AI implementation in New England, he oversees governance and deployment of emerging technologies to enhance clinical and operational performance. In February 2025, he also assumed the role of chief medical officer for Saint Francis Hospital, the region’s largest hospital, further expanding his leadership scope. Dr. Hussain was previously chief medical officer for two Detroit Medical Center hospitals and has been recognized by Crain‘s as a “40 Under 40” leader.

William “Bill” Isenberg, MD, PhD. Vice President and Chief Medical and Quality Officer at Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Isenberg’s position at Sutter Health entails overseeing the provision of safe, high-quality care for over patients across acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and various other facilities. Under his leadership, Sutter launched the high reliability training program “Sutter Safe Care” and applied safe care prevention tools that help physicians reduce harm to patients. He also guides Sutter’s Institute for Advancing Health Equity, which was launched in 2020 to help eliminate health disparities. He has been a key figure in the creation, implementation and evolution of Sutter’s EHR since 2007, and oversees the use of clinical informatics to gather data that enhances patient care and the clinician experience. Dr. Isenberg is also a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist, serves on the board of directors for the Hospital Quality Institute of California, and co-chairs the Healthcare Committee of the Bay Area Council.

Amir K. Jaffer, MD. Regional Chief Medical Officer at SSM Health (St. Louis). Dr. Jaffer provides executive oversight for medical staff affairs, quality, patient safety and operational performance across SSM Health’s St. Louis region, partnering with ministry and nursing leaders to advance clinical excellence. Under his leadership, the region’s mortality index improved from 0.96 to 0.63, a 34% reduction, while average length of stay decreased 11.5%, excess days declined 26% and hospital-acquired infections fell approximately 20%. He has led multidisciplinary efforts to standardize acute care delivery, reduce serious safety events, and improve documentation and throughput, strengthening both clinical and financial performance. Known for building high-performing leadership teams, Dr. Jaffer fosters a culture of accountability and trust across multiple hospitals. In collaboration with the University of Missouri–St. Louis, he launched a physician leadership development program for mid-career physicians to strengthen succession planning and clinical standardization. Dr. Jaffer previously spent time as chief medical officer of New York-Presbyterian Queens (N.Y.)..

Jeffrey Jahre, MD. Senior Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs at St. Luke’s University Health Network (Bethlehem, Pa.). Dr. Jahre has been a central architect of St. Luke’s long-running quality strategy, embedded in the network’s mission since 2007 with the explicit aim to “achieve top decile performance” on national quality measures. He helped build a durable quality infrastructure with centralized system teams, site-based quality and safety leaders, and physician-group oversight. He uses “plan, do, check act” cycles for continuous improvement, scorecards, benchmarking, and workforce training to drive accountability. He played a major role in St. Luke’s transformation from a single hospital to a multi-state network with 16 hospital campuses, 23,000 employees and over 350 outpatient sites, and his leadership helped establish a unified medical staff structure across hospitals to standardize protocols and reduce care variation. During Covid-19, he supported regional response efforts and served as a trusted advisor to public officials, school systems and media. He is credited with helping integrate newly acquired hospitals, such as Grand View in Sellersville, Pa. in 2025, into unified governance and clinical standards. The organization’s recent recognitions include systemwide Leapfrog “A” grades, Medicare 5-star ratings, and “100 Top Hospital” designations from Premier for 11 consecutive years. Dr. Jahre also holds the title of section chief emeritus of infectious diseases, and has served in multiple senior physician leadership and academic roles.

Zafar Jamkhana, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital (St. Louis). Dr. Jamkhana provides clinical and strategic leadership across SSM Health’s adult academic ministries, aligning academic and community providers to improve access, quality and operational performance. In 2025, Saint Louis University Hospital increased total admissions by 15.3% and acute admissions by 17.4%, while St. Mary’s Hospital grew total admissions 5.8%, with both hospitals improving acute average length of stay by 10% and 7.2%, respectively. He led multidisciplinary mortality improvement efforts estimated to have contributed to approximately 100 additional lives saved, strengthening goals-of-care conversations and earlier palliative care engagement. Under his oversight, patient safety metrics improved across patient safety indicators, surgical site infection rates, C. difficile and catheter-associated urinary tract infection performance, alongside emergency department throughput and reduced left-without-being-seen rates. As system medical director for critical care, he standardizes evidence-based ICU practices across multiple hospitals. Dr. Jamkhana is a professor of internal medicine and former medical staff president.

Gregory Johnson, MD. Chief Medical Officer for UnityPoint Health (West Des Moines, Iowa). As chief medical officer for UnityPoint Health, Dr. Johnson leads initiatives in quality of care, patient experience, safety and service line development across the organization’s three-state system. He has played a crucial role in advancing sepsis care, leading a multidisciplinary team that implemented systemwide efficiencies and evidence-based practices, reducing sepsis mortality, disease progression and readmissions. Under his leadership, the organization improved patient outcomes, including a reduction in length of stay. Dr. Johnson is a fellow in several medical societies and serves on the board of Mary’s Place, a homelessness solution in Seattle. He joined UnityPoint Health in July 2024, following his role at Sound Physicians in Tacoma, Wash.

Gurjeet Kalkat, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Emanate Health (Covina, Calif.). As chief medical officer, Dr. Kalkat drives clinical and quality improvement initiatives across Emanate Health, a nonprofit healthcare system comprised of hospitals, home care and ambulatory sites in the San Gabriel Valley. With over 40 years of experience in the medical field, Dr. Kalkat brings a wealth of experience to his role. He has served the local community for over 30 years as a pulmonary and critical care specialist and held various leadership roles during his career, such as medical director and chief of staff. In his current role, Dr. Kalkat leads the charge in providing integrated, quality and efficient care to the community.

Jill Kalman, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Dr. Kalman is the executive vice president, chief medical officer and deputy physician-in-chief for Northwell Health, leading the system’s physicians and overall clinical and quality strategy while helping keep a large, diverse health system aligned and connected. Notably, she is the first woman to serve as chief medical officer in Northwell’s history. Her responsibilities center on systemwide physician leadership, strategic clinical direction, and translating lessons from the Covid era into future-ready operating models. She is focused on building “hospitals of the future” across sites of care, improving access and follow-up, and ensuring hospitals can concentrate on patients who truly need inpatient services. A major emphasis is clinician wellbeing and resiliency: Dr. Kalman is implementing approaches for leaders to recognize stress and intervene appropriately, while also addressing environmental drivers of burnout. She is also advancing technology to reduce administrative burden, including deployment of Abridge’s ambient AI documentation to support clinicians across multiple settings, specialties and languages. Operationally and strategically, she played an integral role in a major Epic EHR unification effort to improve coordination and data-driven decision-making. She also played a key role in physician connectivity and alignment during Northwell’s merger with NuVance Health, expanding the system’s geographic reach and the population served. She served as a volunteer chair for the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” in New York City in 2025. 

James Keller, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (Park Ridge, Ill.). Since January 2020, Dr. Keller has served as chief medical officer of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. He is an advocate for outstanding patient care and service. He is also a physician specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, blending clinical expertise with administrative excellence. Until March 2023, he was vice president of medical management, maternal fetal medicine for Advocate Children’s Hospital, also in Park Ridge. 

Shaun Kemmerly, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital (Baton Rouge, La.). Dr. Kemmerly, chief medical officer at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, leads quality and safety initiatives for pediatric care. Overseeing pediatric specialists and general pediatricians, she drives the development of clinical programs, from specialist recruitment to healthcare quality improvements. With nearly two decades at Baton Rouge, La.-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, she played a crucial role in the planning and operations of the hospital, which opened in 2019. Dr. Kemmerly was instrumental during the Covid-19 pandemic, collaborating with the Louisiana Department of Health to advocate for vaccination. In 2023, she received the Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics “Master Pediatrician Award” for her contributions to pediatric care.

Ron Keren, MD. Senior Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Keren provides physician leadership for quality and operational excellence activities across the enterprise and focuses much of his work on innovation in healthcare. He is the deputy editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics and is the founding leader of the system’s center for healthcare quality and analytics. The center is home to several teams that support a large portfolio of projects focused on safety, quality improvement, human factors engineering, clinical pathways, antimicrobial stewardship, data and analytics. The clinical pathways program publishes and maintains the largest collection of pediatric care protocols, used by tens of thousands of clinicians around the world. Dr. Keren also founded and leads CHOP’s innovation catalyst program, which uses design thinking methods to develop solutions for some of the toughest challenges in healthcare. Before moving into healthcare administration, Dr. Keren was founding director of Clinical Futures, a CHOP research institute center dedicated to advancing clinical research for children. He received the “Alfred Stengel Health System Champion Award” from Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine in 2018, recognizing his significant contributions toward clinical integration, efficiency and quality of care.

Anil N. Keswani, MD. Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Operations Officer of Ambulatory Care at Scripps Health (San Diego). Dr. Keswani serves as corporate executive vice president and chief medical and operations officer for ambulatory care at Scripps Health, leading ambulatory services, affiliated medical groups, seven major clinical service lines, post-acute care, population health management, executive health and value-based care initiatives, including managed care and ACO strategy. He focuses on building scalable systems that reduce variation, improve predictability and strengthen physician engagement across the outpatient enterprise. During a period of national workforce shortages, Dr. Keswani led efforts to stabilize anesthesia coverage, operating room reliability and radiology support to maintain access and continuity of care. He played a lead role in negotiating a 25-year renewal of the professional services agreement with Scripps’ largest multispecialty medical group, reinforcing long-term physician alignment. He also advanced patient-experience modernization through initiatives such as digital tools that allow patients to better plan laboratory visits. Under his ambulatory leadership, Scripps reports top-tier performance on quality measures including breast and colorectal cancer screening, hypertension control and diabetes management. He also supports a growing research portfolio of 114 clinical trials backed by more than $40 million in active grants, positioning Scripps’ ambulatory enterprise as both a high-performing clinical network and a platform for innovation.

Jennifer “Jen” Khelil. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Virtua Health (Marlton, N.J.). As executive vice president and chief clinical officer, Dr. Khelil provides systemwide clinical leadership across Virtua’s five hospitals and 400-plus care locations, overseeing physician services, nursing, and medical affairs to ensure high reliability operations and strong quality and safety performance. She plays a central role in medical staff performance and governance, including compliance with accrediting bodies, bylaws, privileging and peer review. She also guides capability development across key service lines such as cardiovascular care, neurosciences, GI, maternity and organ transplantation. She is a long-tenured Virtua leader who advanced through roles including vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer before being named chief clinical officer in early 2025. A signature accomplishment was the rapid expansion of Virtua’s academic and training programs, including more than doubling residency programs in areas such as surgery, psychiatry, geriatrics, OB-GYN and pharmacy, and expanding internal medicine and family medicine training to address workforce shortages. Under her leadership, the system supports more than 600 annual student rotations and has strengthened faculty development, mentorship and research opportunities, including clinical and device trials with industry partners. 

Justin Klamerus, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of McLaren Health Care (Grand Blanc, Mich.). Dr. Klamerus serves as chief clinical officer for hospitals systemwide, a role that requires him to lead clinical care with a single standard of quality and care across hospitals. He oversaw the expansion of the network and the opening of the system’s first out-of-state location in Ohio. Under his leadership, the system has been recognized for clinical quality and safety, including two CMS 5-star rated hospitals. Dr. Klamerus has been with the system since 2009, when he joined as a practicing oncologist.

Myra Kleinpeter, MD. Interim Chief Medical Officer at New Orleans East Hospital (New Orleans). Dr. Kleinpeter serves as interim chief medical officer of New Orleans East Hospital, part of LCMC Health. There, she is tasked with providing physician leadership across clinical quality, patient safety, utilization management and evidence-based care delivery for a vital community provider. She oversees medical staff governance, credentialing and peer review while partnering with nursing and operational leaders to maintain accountability, clinician engagement and stable performance during transition. A board-certified nephrologist specializing in chronic kidney disease, hypertension and complex chronic conditions, Dr. Kleinpeter brings a population-health lens and a career-long focus on prevention and chronic disease management. She has more than 25 years on the faculty of Tulane University School of Medicine, reinforcing her strength in academic medicine and workforce development. Previously, she served as medical director at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, and was the inaugural chief of staff at New Orleans East Hospital, helping establish foundational governance and clinical systems. Dr. Kleinpeter strengthens trust and reliability by aligning clinicians around clear quality priorities while remaining responsive to the community’s diverse needs.

Carolyn Kloek, MD. Chief Medical Officer at OU Health (Oklahoma City). Dr. Kloek leads clinical quality, safety and experience initiatives across the University of Oklahoma academic health system. She has advanced enterprisewide reliability efforts, strengthened prevention practices and aligned clinical teams around consistent, high‑performance standards of care. Under her leadership, OU Health achieved strong national performance in quality measures, including top‑decile results for hospital-associated infections. The system has achieved a mortality performance index 22% above the national benchmark for complex care. She also guided improvements in perioperative safety, with substantial reductions in postoperative deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism events through more reliable prophylaxis and  coordinated workflows. Patient‑experience results continue to rise, as did the system’s likelihood‑to‑recommend metric. Dr. Kloek implemented new structures to support clinical and operational performance, including revising the patient care committee, developing a patient complaints and grievance program, launching a triad leadership model and updating peer review, root cause analysis and patient safety indicator review processes. She implemented a systemwide surgical safety checklist, reorganized the process improvement team, and  established monthly and quarterly operating reviews at the enterprise and service-line levels. In addition, Dr. Kloek serves as clinical associate professor of ophthalmology at OU Health Dean McGee Eye Institute.

Gail Knight, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (Calif.). Dr. Knight is responsible for planning, implementing and managing clinical operations for Rady Children’s, including oversight of patient care. One of her key roles has been developing and supporting multiple joint ventures and collaborations with other health systems to deliver the best care possible for children and young adults. She also serves on multiple committees for Rady, including its diversity, equity and inclusion council. 

Stephen Knych, MD. Chief Medical Officer for AdventHealth Fish Memorial (Orange City, Fla.). Dr. Knych has served as CMO for AdventHealth Fish Memorial since 2019. A board-certified orthopedic surgeon, he has spent over 40 years as a clinician and healthcare executive, caring for patients across ambulatory clinics and hospitals. Prior to assuming the CMO role, Dr. Kynch was vice president and chief quality and patient safety officer for AdventHealth at the corporate level. 

Kimi Kobayashi, MD. Chief Medical Officer at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Medical Group (Worcester, Mass.). As chief medical officer, Dr. Kobayashi oversees capacity management and throughput, focusing on length of stay, patient flow and systemwide coordination. He is collaborating with the system COO, as well as CMOs and CNOs across the health system, to build a system command center that will optimize patient movement, asset utilization and access to care. Dr. Kobayashi also serves as dyad partner to the CNO, jointly addressing complex clinical, operational and communication challenges, including difficult patient scenarios, complex discharges and interdisciplinary issues on inpatient units. His executive oversight spans hospital medicine, the eICU program, employee health services, palliative care, and ultimate accountability for quality and safety performance. Outcomes improved under his leadership, with the medical center seeing top-quartile performance among Vizient organizations on the PSI-90 patient safety indicator bundle, alongside a cultural shift toward clearer accountability for disruptive behavior. Drawing on prior roles at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins’ Capacity Command Center and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he is also positioned as a national voice in capacity management through advisory work with an American Hospital Association-sponsored consortium and as chair of Vizient’s chief medical executive advisory committee.

George Kondylis, MD. Chief Physician Executive and Chief Medical Officer at Merrimack Health (Lawrence, Mass.). Dr. Kondylis is a long-tenured physician executive with 25 years at Lawrence General, which is now Merrimack Health. He has spent six of those years as CMO, aligning clinical excellence with operational performance and financial sustainability. A board-certified emergency physician by training, he leads multidisciplinary teams and uses analytics to target throughput, quality and equity, breaking down emergency department performance into granular metrics to remove bottlenecks and improve flow. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he applied data-driven decision-making to guide resource allocation while serving a uniquely vulnerable immigrant population. He operationalized health equity through measurable social-determinants interventions, including interpreter rounding and pocket translators, reducing readmissions for patients requiring interpreters from 10.52% in 2021 to 7.94% in 2024. Dr. Kondylis has also extended care beyond hospital walls with a mobile blood pressure screening van to address high community hypertension rates. Earlier in his career, he helped build core emergency service lines, including a pediatric emergency department, an emergency department ultrasound program and an observation unit.

Helen Koselka, MD. Chief Medical Officer at TriHealth (Cincinnati). Before being named chief medical officer in a unanimous 2021 vote, Dr. Koselka held the role for TriHealth in an interim capacity. Previously, she was regional chief medical officer for TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Region beginning in 2017. She has been with TriHealth for more than 26 years.

James Francis Kravec, MD. Chief Clinical Officer, Mercy Health–Lorain and Youngstown (Ohio). As chief clinical officer of Mercy Health–Lorain and Youngstown, Dr. Kravec oversees clinical operations across hospitals and medical groups, managing a medical staff and serving thousands of outpatient patients daily. He also directs graduate medical education for Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, overseeing resident and fellowship physicians across residency programs. Additionally, he contributes to physician recruitment efforts, successfully onboarding an average of 100 new physicians annually, and serves as a faculty member at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, mentoring medical students. Dr. Kravec is actively involved in community health initiatives, volunteering with local schools and the Diocese of the Catholic Church. He has been a board of health member and medical director of Mahoning County Public Health since 2016.

Catherine Krawczeski, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Physician-in-Chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, Ohio). Dr. Krawczeski is the senior clinical leader for Nationwide Children’s Hospital, guiding the delivery, quality and strategic direction of care across inpatient, outpatient and emergency settings. She leads a medical staff of more than 1,600 physicians, with direct oversight of 737 department of pediatrics faculty, and drives enterprise clinical strategy through physician practice, quality and safety, and academic medicine. Her work focuses on integrating research, education and care delivery, aligning clinical operations with scientific priorities so discovery translates into measurable improvements in pediatric outcomes. Dr. Krawczeski also directs clinical workforce planning, physician recruitment, leadership development and succession planning to ensure long-term stability and access as demand grows. Partnering with enterprise leadership, she helps model patient demand and optimize care delivery models to expand access at national scale. Dr. Krawczeski’s prior leadership roles span cardiac intensive care and pediatric cardiology.

John Krueger, MD. Chief Medical Officer, Chief Quality Officer and Undersecretary of Medical Staff and Quality at Chickasaw Nation Department of Health (Ada, Okla.). Dr. Krueger is responsible for the clinical quality of care and the clinical oversight for Chickasaw Nation Department of Health’s hospital and outlying medical facilities. Dr. Krueger also oversees the organization’s quality and quality analytics strategy. He has assisted Chickasaw Nation in achieving the Oklahoma Quality Foundation top-level “Leadership in Excellence Award” in 2021.

Ajay Kumar, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare. Dr. Kumar serves as chief medical officer for Hartford HealthCare’s 6,500 medical staff across the state’s largest integrated health system, encompassing eight hospitals, seven institutes, a behavioral health and community network, and 500-plus locations. He sets systemwide standards for quality, safety, regulatory readiness, and high reliability, oversees pharmacy services and the care logistics center; sponsors health equity initiatives; and leads value and evidence-based care through the clinical care redesign program and broader expense management strategy. His scope also includes utilization management, academic affairs like research, continuing medical education and partnerships, innovation, education and simulation, and clinical informatics to ensure digital tools and EHR support care teams and decision-making. Dr. Kumar led Hartford HealthCare through Covid-19 as system incident commander and advancing major systemwide performance gains, including Leapfrog grades at all hospitals improving to “A” grades by fall 2023 and fall 2024. Reported outcomes include a 53% reduction in hospital-acquired infections, 67% fewer serious safety events and a 35% reduction in sepsis mortality, alongside zero hospital-acquired condition penalties for three consecutive years since 2023. Additional highlights include substantial specialty pharmacy revenue growth, major increases in transfer volume and acceptance via the care logistics center, and $122 million in expense savings over 18 months through physician-led redesign and supply-cost initiatives. He is also credited with advancing innovation and academic growth through partnerships, including with MIT and Oxford, multiple AI pilot projects, graduate medical education expansion, and international simulation and education collaboration.

Deepa Kumaraiah, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City). Dr. Kumaraiah joined the hospital in 2012. Prior, she served as the senior vice president of service line integration and chief physician of NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Groups. She has also served as vice president and associate CMO of service lines and clinical strategy. She is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at New York City-based Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she continues to practice in the cardiac intensive care unit.

Genevieve “Jen” Lankowicz, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Chesapeake Regional Healthcare (North Chesapeake, Va.). Dr. Lankowicz is chief medical officer for Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, acting as primary liaison between the medical staff and administration. She directly oversees all hospital medical directors and leads all quality, patient safety, physician engagement and clinical operations initiatives. She began her career in family medicine and most recently served as regional chief clinical officer for Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health. 

Jeffrey Lee, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston). Dr. Lee oversees MD Anderson’s clinical divisions, national cancer network and international collaborations, advancing institutional strategy to expand access to research-driven oncology care. He leads efforts to enhance virtual care, improve timely patient access and strengthen survivorship models while supporting recruitment, engagement and resilience across the physician workforce. As the leader of MD Anderson’s cancer network, he guides partnerships with seven U.S. organizations to elevate quality through shared standards, clinical trial access and real-time multidisciplinary tumor boards, connecting physicians across sites. He previously served as chair of surgical oncology and vice president for medical and academic affairs within the cancer network, where he helped redesign network strategy, build academic infrastructure and activate major national partnerships. Dr. Lee has authored more than 600 peer-reviewed publications and maintained a peer-reviewed funded laboratory research program focused on melanoma genetics and immunotherapy development. His leadership supports MD Anderson’s sustained No. 1 national ranking in cancer care by U.S. News & World Report and continued 5-star performance in Vizient’s quality and accountability scorecard. 

Christopher Lehrach, MD. Chief Physician Executive for Nuvance Health (Danbury, Conn.). Dr. Lehrach serves as Nuvance Health’s chief physician executive, as well as president of Nuvance Health Medical Practices. In his dual role, he has direct oversight of physicians and clinical staff across the system’s locations. He collaborates with hospital leadership to advance clinical programs, and has helped grow practices via the recruitment of executives and clinicians across service lines. His focus on leadership culture, workflows and wellness helped increase clinician engagement as well. 

Whitney Limm, MD. Chief Physician Executive and Executive Vice President of Clinical Integration for the Queen’s Health Systems (Honolulu). Dr. Limm leads the physician enterprise for Queen’s Health Systems, including Queen’s University Medical Group, graduate education and the system’s clinically integrated physician network. Under his leadership, Queen’s formed a collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for advanced patient safety and quality. When the pandemic began, Dr. Limm developed Covid-19 protocols to preserve resources and stop community spread of the virus.

Robert Linton II, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Howard University Hospital (Washington, D.C.). As chief medical officer of Howard University Hospital, Dr. Robert Linton has led transformative advancements in quality, safety and operational efficiency at one of the nation’s only academic medical centers based on a Historically Black Colleges and Universities campus. His tenure has resulted in a 53% reduction in patient safety indicator scores and major declines in hospitalwide harm events, reflecting his commitment to safer, more effective care. Dr. Linton applies elite operational frameworks to complex healthcare challenges, most notably in perioperative efficiency and sepsis management. He has strengthened emergency response by partnering with the fire department and emergency medical services, while simultaneously fostering a more engaged and accountable medical staff through graduate medical education restructuring and strategic quality initiatives. With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Linton combines clinical insight with executive leadership to drive measurable outcomes and cultural transformation. 

Wayne Lipson, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (Memphis, Tenn.). Dr. Lipson is senior vice president and chief medical officer for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, an integrated healthcare delivery system. He is responsible for the healthcare system’s physician enterprise and integrated operations center. He launches and implements initiatives to enhance clinical excellence in quality, patient and physician experience, and patient safety. He joined MLH from Jeffersontown, Ky.-based Baptist Health. 

Gary Little, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the Greater Charlotte (N.C.) Region of Atrium Health. As chief medical officer, Dr. Little leads initiatives in quality, patient safety, physician engagement, clinical operations and system integration for the acute care hospitals in Atrium Health’s Greater Charlotte area. This includes its flagship hospital, Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, and Atrium Health Union West. He aims to develop and drive health equity initiatives and to eliminate care disparities. Currently, he is utilizing customer feedback to oversee a broad range of customizations to system EHR and revenue cycle software. He also guided the system in its EHR implementation, the launch of the system’s “Zero Harm – For All” initiative, and the reduction of unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions. His efforts have resulted in a reduction in multi-visit patient visits, a decrease in their length of stay and a reduction in high emergency department utilizers’ billed charges.

Tammy Lundstrom, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Dr. Lundstrom serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer at Trinity Health, leading and coordinating physician efforts. With a robust background in infection control, hospital epidemiology, quality and patient safety, she has held academic roles at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and Law. Dr. Lundstrom has contributed to numerous state and national committees on infection control and quality and served on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality review teams. She has also been a faculty member for the CDC-Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America training course and a member of influential boards, including the National Quality Forum and Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Her extensive publications and leadership roles underscore her commitment to advancing healthcare standards and patient safety.

Andrew Masica, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Texas Health Resources (Arlington). Dr. Masica serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Texas Health Resources, overseeing clinical quality, safety, service lines, medical staff affairs, graduate medical education, academic collaborations and research across a 29-hospital system serving more than 1.7 million patients annually. He leads the deployment of evidence-based practices to drive top-quartile performance in clinical outcomes and core safety metrics. Under his leadership, Texas Health implemented integrated system service lines in heart and vascular, women and infants, musculoskeletal and neurosciences, alongside enterprise care pathways including ICU liberation and enhanced recovery after surgery initiatives. He standardized medical staff bylaws across 14 hospitals, and expanded shared communication channels to more than 6,800 credentialed physicians and advanced practice providers. Dr. Masica also oversaw growth of the graduate medical education platform from a single 24-resident program to five programs across five hospitals with 160 resident positions for the 2025–2026 academic year. He played a key role in executing and operationalizing a multifaceted academic affiliation with UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. 

Moiz Master, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Piedmont Healthcare (Atlanta). Dr. Master serves as system chief medical officer for Piedmont Healthcare, overseeing medical practice, clinical performance, patient safety, quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and physician engagement across the statewide nonprofit system, with system oversight of pharmacy, lab and radiology. Appointed to the role in January 2025, he previously served as assistant chief medical officer since 2021 and as chief medical officer of Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper, Ga. from 2014 to 2025, bringing more than 25 years of experience as a practicing internist and physician leader. Under his leadership, Piedmont Mountainside achieved 19 consecutive Leapfrog “A” grades, and he led a multidisciplinary effort that reduced excess days by 50%, creating capacity equivalent to 300 additional beds. He helped establish physician-led, specialty-specific clinical governance councils that set the system’s quality and safety agenda and guided Piedmont to its highest A++ internal safety grade in fiscal year 2025. Dr. Master is also leading Piedmont’s expansion into graduate medical education, overseeing new programs in medicine and surgery and subspecialties across multiple hospitals.

James J. Matera, DO. Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Health CentraState Medical Center (Freehold, N.J.). Dr. Matera is the senior clinical executive at Atlantic Health CentraState Medical Center, providing operational and strategic leadership for a medical staff of more than 800 professionals with a focus on patient safety, quality, reducing clinical variation, and strengthening accountability and communication. He also plays a key role in clinician recruitment, development and retention, with emphasis on physician resilience, and works across Atlantic Health to support knowledge transfer and standardization of best practices. Since becoming chief medical officer in 2019, he has championed initiatives to address burnout, including helping develop a physician wellness and professionalism policy and committee and sponsoring medical executive committee annual retreats focused on fair and accountable culture, communication and resilience. His leadership was tested early in his tenure during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he mobilized a multidisciplinary response team uniting clinicians and providers from across the country. Under his guidance as physician advisor, CentraState implemented Press Ganey’s “Compassionate Connected Care” program, resulting in dramatic gains including over 500% improvement in “rate the hospital” over two years and 282% improvement in “likelihood to recommend,” along with a 51% improvement in nurse communication. A practicing nephrologist in New Jersey since 1992, he has published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, contributed to Consultant360 and has long-standing involvement in medical education, governance and community service.

Brandon Mauldin, MD. Chief Medical Officer at East Jefferson General Hospital (Metairie, La.). Dr. Mauldin serves as chief medical officer of East Jefferson General Hospital, part of LCMC Health, providing physician leadership across clinical quality, patient safety, medical staff engagement and evidence-based care delivery for one of the region’s largest community hospitals. He oversees medical staff governance, peer review, credentialing, utilization management and clinical performance improvement, partnering with nursing and operational leaders to align care delivery with organizational priorities. Since joining the hospital in 2024, Dr. Mauldin has helped bridge community-based care and academic medicine as the hospital expands its partnership with Tulane University School of Medicine. Trained in public health, he brings a systems-level approach to data-driven improvement, care coordination and variation reduction. He also serves as an assistant professor of medicine at Tulane, strengthening workforce development and clinical education alongside hospital operations.

Robert Mayo, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health. Dr. Mayo oversees all service line executive medical directors, hospital chief medical officers, medical and dental staff services, health informatics, physician advisory services, graduate medical education, research, and clinical and regulatory compliance teams for Rochester Regional Health’s hospitals. He joined the health system in 2002 and became the system’s chief medical officer in 2013. Dr. Mayo developed and implemented a robust physician advisor Program to ensure systemwide standardization of utilization management and documentation review. The program resulted in substantial increases in revenue and reduction of claims denials across the enterprise, delivering twice the return on investment in less than six months. He led the strategy to transform the medical staff governance and clinical integration model across all health system hospitals and clinical affiliates. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he co-led the regional response effort in partnership with community, county and state leaders. Dr. Mayo has been recognized as a “Power 30” list leader by Rochester Business Journal multiple times. He has also received its most prestigious recognition as an “ICON Award” recipient. He previously served as Rochester Regional’s vice president of patient safety and the medical and dental staff president at Rochester General Hospital.

Oliver Mayorga, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital (New London, Conn.) and Westerly (R.I.) Hospital. Dr. Mayorga oversees more than 1,000 providers across Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and Westerly Hospital, with responsibility spanning credentialing, peer review, quality and safety, regulatory oversight, and related medical staff functions. He also represents Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health shared savings programs for local tribes. Over 15 years as chief medical officer, he has been responsible for expanding key programs, including pulmonary, ICU, neurology, neurosurgery, primary care and general surgery services. He also previously served as an emergency medicine physician in the U.S. Air Force 81st Medical Group, including helping rebuild emergency services at Keesler Air Force Base following Hurricane Katrina and later deploying to Iraq as an assistant trauma director. He also serves on the board of directors for CT State Community College Three Rivers in Norwich, Conn., supporting the region’s educational pipeline and future workforce. Under his leadership, the hospitals have earned recognition including The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses silver-level “Beacon Awards” for the neonatal ICU, ICU and critical care unit at Lawrence + Memorial and two consecutive Leapfrog “A” hospital safety grades for Westerly Hospital in 2025.

David McAneny, MD. Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Boston Medical Center. Dr. McAneny oversees physicians and advanced practice providers at the academic medical center. In addition to his role as chief medical officer, Dr. McAneny maintains an active surgery practice in the section of surgical oncology, and serves as a professor of surgery and associate dean for clinical affairs at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. McAneny helped create the “I COUGH” initiative for perioperative pulmonary care, reducing the risk-adjusted likelihood of post-operative pulmonary complications from an odds ratio of over 2.0 to below 1.0. More than 100 medical centers and healthcare systems around the world have adopted this model. He serves as a member of the executive committee of the New England Surgical Society, and previously served as president of the New England Surgical Society Scholars foundation board.

James McCarthy, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston). Dr. McCarthy serves as executive vice president and chief physician executive at Memorial Hermann Health System, leading physician alignment and integration efforts across a network of more than 7,000 employed and affiliated physicians. He partners with acute, ambulatory and post-acute providers to advance high-quality, high-value care, supporting more than 1.8 million patient encounters, 200,000 surgeries, nearly 785,000 emergency visits and more than 31,000 births in the past year. He served as physician executive sponsor for the systemwide Epic transition and integration of AI tools into clinical workflows, driving specialty-specific optimization and documentation efficiency. Under his leadership, Memorial Hermann has earned approximately 350 “Certified Zero Awards” since 2011 for preventing hospital-acquired infections. He is advancing the system’s “Road to Value” strategy, including the 2026 launch of the primary care collaborative to strengthen value-based care infrastructure and manage total cost of care. Dr. McCarthy also oversaw the philanthropy-funded replacement of the Life Flight fleet, and expanded direct-to-employer models and workforce health initiatives aligned with affordability and sustainability goals. A trained emergency physician, he maintains strong physician governance structures and enterprise engagement to support quality, interoperability and workforce wellbeing.

Stonewall McCuiston, Jr., MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Riverside Healthcare (Kankakee, Ill.). Appointed vice president and chief medical officer in December 2022, Dr. McCuiston oversees Riverside Medical Group providers across primary care and multiple specialties while advancing access to outpatient services. He has worked with medical group leadership to optimize schedules so patients can be seen sooner, reflecting a focus on access and operational improvement. As director of resource and care management, he partners with the care management team to improve Riverside Medical Center’s length-of-stay index and reduce readmission rates. He is board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics and is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He leads the 130 providers in Riverside Medical Group and brings deep institutional experience as one of the first providers to join the group, with service dating back to 1985. Riverside Healthcare has earned recognitions including Magnet designation, Premier’s “100 Top Hospitals,” and multiple workplace and employer awards.

Thomas McGinn, MD. Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive Officer at CommonSpirit Health (Chicago). Dr. McGinn serves as senior executive vice president and chief physician executive officer at CommonSpirit Health, supporting enterprise physician alignment and performance acceleration across one of the nation’s largest health systems. In this executive capacity, he partners with physician, nursing and operational leaders to advance systemwide clinical strategy and execution across quality, safety and professional practice. CommonSpirit’s recent quality and safety performance results include 82% of sites earning “A” or “B” Leapfrog hospital safety grades, 55 acute care hospitals recognized by U.S. News & World Report, and 43% of eligible hospitals achieving 4- or 5-star CMS ratings versus a 37% national average. The organization also earned recognition as an American Hospital Association “Quest for Quality” finalist and received the “John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award” at the national level for innovation. CommonSpirit reported multi-year clinical improvements, including more than 130,000 patients with improved blood pressure control and 35,000 with improved diabetes control, alongside reductions in mortality for heart failure, stroke and percutaneous coronary intervention, and decreases in hospital-acquired infections and complications. Dr. McGinn’s role emphasizes enabling large-scale, standardized improvement methodologies and aligning physician leadership to deliver consistent, measurable gains across diverse markets and care settings. 

Michael J. McLaughlin, MD. Chief Medical Officer for the East Florida Region at Orlando (Fla.) Health. Dr. McLaughlin leads clinical strategy and quality initiatives across Orlando Health’s East Florida Region, providing physician-executive leadership for two hospitals and serving as a key liaison between medical staff and senior leadership following Orlando Health’s 2024 acquisition of the facilities. In this role, he focuses on integrating the medical staff and aligning clinical operations with Orlando Health’s systemwide standards, ensuring consistent implementation of evidence-based protocols to support patient safety, quality and operational efficiency. He also functions as the region’s chief quality officer, building governance structures and supporting continuous improvement while coaching physicians and clinical teams to strengthen accountability and professionalism. After returning from retirement, he launched three targeted committees in under a year focused on reducing readmissions, mortality and falls, and established multidisciplinary quality councils to accelerate improvement across both hospitals. Previously, he served as chief medical officer for a large regional health system, where he exceeded length-of-stay goals across four hospitals and led a hand-hygiene protocol that increased compliance from 55% to 93% in six months, contributing to a 30% reduction in MRSA infections. A general surgeon by training, he practiced in Florida’s Brevard County for more than 25 years, including being the county’s first surgeon to perform a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and completing more than 5,000 procedures. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Peggy McNaull, MD. Chief Medical and Quality Officer at UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine (Chapel Hill, N.C.). As UNC Health’s chief medical and quality officer, Dr. McNaull partners with entity chief medical officers and chairs the quality improvement oversight committee that governs systemwide quality and safety programs. She leads multiple enterprise teams, including hospital quality and innovation, care redesign, physician advisor and central credentialing, positioning her at the center of UNC Health’s performance, reliability and governance efforts. Nationally, she is a recognized leader in pediatric anesthesiology, serving on the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology board of directors and as president for 2025–26. She is influencing the specialty’s future through co-chairing a task force re-envisioning pediatric anesthesiology Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education training, and her longstanding contributions to the American Board of Anesthesiology as an applied examiner and leader in exam development. Her career path reflects sustained commitment to quality, including prior service as UNC’s division chief for pediatric anesthesiology, UNC anesthesiology’s first vice chair for patient safety and quality improvement, and associate chief medical officer for quality and safety for UNC Hospitals. After serving as the Frederic A. Berry professor and chair of anesthesiology at the University of Virginia beginning in late 2020, she returned to UNC in late 2024 to lead quality at the system level. 

Sylvia Maria McQueen, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Jackson Health Services – Correctional Health (Miami). Dr. McQueen leads clinical operations for Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation through Jackson Health Services–Correctional Health, overseeing evidence-based medical, behavioral health and specialty care for one of the nation’s largest and highest-acuity correctional health populations. She directs multidisciplinary teams and drives clinical governance, quality improvement, patient safety, infection control, telehealth expansion, and readiness for audits and inspections while serving as a primary liaison to county leadership, accreditation bodies and public health agencies. Under her leadership, the program strengthened chronic disease management, integrated behavioral health services and elevated compliance with national correctional health benchmarks. Her work also contributed to the successful termination of the Department of Justice consent decree in June 2025, reflecting sustained system redesign and measurable quality improvement. Dr. McQueen brings more than 30 years of progressive correctional healthcare leadership, including serving as state medical director for the Tennessee and Michigan Departments of Corrections and the Alabama Department of Corrections. She has held senior executive roles across major correctional healthcare organizations, leading multi-state operations, patient safety programs and innovative models of care for vulnerable populations. 

Sonia Melkaveri, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital–Lake St. Louis. Dr. Melkaveri leads credentialing, privileging and medical staff development while serving as a key clinical executive driving patient safety, quality improvement and high-reliability organization principles. Partnering closely with nursing and physician leaders, she has delivered sustained improvements in clinical outcomes and operational performance, including a 25% reduction in average length of stay and a 40% decrease in excess days, helping shift financial performance from negative variance to positive margin. She advanced infection prevention results with zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections, a 36% reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infection and a 50% decrease in C. difficile infections, alongside reductions in surgical site infections. Dr. Melkaveri also established and led a multidisciplinary readmission steering team that built cross-continuum action plans for high-utilizer patients, driving sustained reductions in 30-day readmissions and improved Vizient performance. Her leadership strengthened a culture of safety and accountability, contributing to a reduced serious safety event rate. Dr. Melkaveri has been recognized with the “ESGR Patriot Award” for supporting service members in the workplace and building durable physician–nursing alignment.

Christopher Miller, MD. Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at BJC Health (St. Louis). Dr. Miller is the senior clinical leader for BJC Health, an integrated academic health system operating across the St. Louis/southern Illinois area and the Kansas City/eastern Kansas area. Working with clinical specialty leaders and academic partners Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, he leads the system’s care delivery model to deliver value and ensure equitable, efficient access to comprehensive services. He has continuously led the advancement of quality, patient safety, high reliability, care delivery and systemwide clinical standards, resulting in a strong year of clinical performance, operational efficiency, timely patient transfers and system growth. He helped create “Project BEST,” a 16-week cohort-based program that combines education, practical application, leadership training and teamwork to empower unit-level performance improvement and accountability across clinical operations, operational efficiency, the EHR and nurse-physician partnerships. He has also been involved with the Center for Health AI, a joint effort with WashU Medicine, also based in St. Louis, piloting tools such as AI-assisted clinical note creation, AI-assisted draft responses and voice recognition dictation to reduce charting time. He serves on the BJC Health board of directors as co-chair of the patient care committee.

Jason W. Mitchell, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Geisinger (Danville, Pa.). Dr. Mitchell, a practicing family physician and Geisinger’s chief medical officer, has focused on enhancing quality, safety and reliability across clinical, operational and health plan settings in his nine months at the organization. He fosters a culture that sets quality and safety as key organizational priorities and has launched a comprehensive high-reliability organization strategy that reaches beyond traditional clinical settings. Under his leadership, these high-reliability principles are being embedded across hospitals, ambulatory clinics, administrative teams and Geisinger Health Plan to establish a shared language and consistent operating model for safety, accountability and continuous improvement. He has also strengthened engagement among physicians and advanced practice providers, resulting in a twofold increase in clinician participation in Geisinger’s annual employee experience survey and signaling a growing organizational connection among frontline clinicians. Before joining Geisinger, Dr. Mitchell spent two decades as a physician leader in another nationally respected healthcare system, bringing deep experience in system transformation, value‑based care and quality improvement.

Victor Morris, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital. Dr. Morris has served as chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at Bridgeport Hospital since July 2020, leading clinical strategy and medical affairs across the Bridgeport and Milford campuses. He partners with senior leaders and physicians to advance strategic initiatives, strengthen clinical performance and ensure the highest standards in quality, safety and patient-centered care. Prior to Bridgeport, Dr. Morris spent more than 30 years within the Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health system, where he held a series of operationally impactful physician-leader roles, including medical director of care coordination, director of bed resources, and architect of “Y Access,” the system’s transfer center, expanding transfers from about 2,000 to about 7,000 annually. He also built and scaled the hospitalist service from a small team to a major enterprise and oversaw the medical consult service for two decades. He was a key contributor to Milford (Conn.) Hospital’s clinical integration into Bridgeport Hospital. He also helped lead Fairfield County’s regional Covid-19 response, creating protocols and coordinating operational needs across the county. He has been recognized with the Greater Bridgeport Medical Association’s “Exemplary Medical Leadership Award.”

James Moses, MD. Inaugural Chief Clinical Officer at Corewell Health (Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.). Named in late 2024 as Corewell Health’s inaugural chief clinical officer, Dr. Moses serves as the system’s top physician leader for a 21-hospital organization and a 60,000-plus team. He sits on the senior leadership team and directly oversees enterprise functions spanning quality, safety and patient experience, clinical risk management, infection prevention, community health impact and belonging, human factors and innovation, research, population health, clinical effectiveness, clinical governance and clinical pathways. A central part of the role is aligning clinical leaders across the system to improve outcomes, reduce variation and advance equitable care. He also leads the partnership with Priority Health to optimize “care and coverage.” Dr. Moses is credited with measurable financial impact through reducing CMS penalties and unnecessary clinical variation, generating more than $10 million in cost savings. He has also helped formalize physician leadership within executive value analysis, in partnership with supply chain, thus strengthening physician accountability alignment, and helped develop a multi-year system population health strategic plan. He has been accelerating the responsible adoption of AI tools across clinical teams and advancing safety transformation through resilience engineering and adaptive capacity. Nationally, he serves on the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s physician health leadership council and the American Hospital Association’s patient safety initiative advisory council. He also co-chairs and initiated the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s chief quality officer council. He is core faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s chief quality officer development program. He held various prior roles at Corewell and spent nearly 13 years at Boston Medical Center in ascending quality and safety leadership roles.

Geoffrey Neimark, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Community Care Behavioral Health (Pittsburgh). Dr. Neimark is the chief medical officer at Community Care Behavioral Health, overseeing the organization’s physicians, psychologists, quality management, value-based purchasing and pharmacy operations while leading medical and quality initiatives. Previously, he served as chief medical officer at Community Behavioral Health in Philadelphia and held leadership roles at Community Care, including associate vice president and interim regional medical director for multiple county contracts. A board-certified psychiatrist with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, he also serves as a clinical assistant professor in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2024, Dr. Neimark was appointed to the National Committee for Quality Assurance board of directors, contributing his extensive expertise in community health and quality improvement. His leadership has strengthened medical and quality operations at Community Care, enhancing behavioral health services for Medicaid members and bringing his passion for healthcare system reform, provider collaboration, and care outcome improvement for vulnerable populations.

Pamela Oliver, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Dr. Oliver institutes a dynamic culture of safety, quality and health equity at Novant Health. A practicing OB-GYN, she has emerged as a national thought leader for Black maternal health. She has led the charge to close equity gaps in care in multiple areas of the organization, including increasing mammography screening for Asian and Hispanic populations by more than 5%. Under her leadership, Novant Health has exceeded safety and quality targets, including those for prevention and screening, cancer prevention and cardiovascular conditions. Dr. Oliver partners with the founder of the Black Maternal Health Caucus in helping to lead the charge in addressing maternal health disparities. Dr. Oliver has briefed U.S. congressional committees on Black maternal mortality and participates on panels with physicians and advocates from around the country. In recognition of her many efforts, Dr. Oliver was appointed as vice chair of the North Carolina State Health Coordinating Council.

John Olmstead, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Guthrie Corning Hospital (Sayre, Pa.). As chief medical officer of a rural community hospital, Dr. Olmstead provides hands-on clinical leadership for a hospital serving a geographically dispersed population that traditionally faces rural access and workforce constraints. He leads clinical strategy, patient safety, regulatory readiness and multidisciplinary alignment, uniting physicians, nurses and administrators around shared priorities in quality improvement, risk management and sustainability. A core part of his role is physician and advanced practice provider engagement. Thus, he supports recruitment, retention and professional development while fostering accountability, teamwork and open communication. He is credited with measurable gains, including improving Guthrie Corning Hospital’s Leapfrog safety grade from a “C” to an “A,” guiding multiple Joint Commission accreditations and driving the adoption of standardized care pathways, raising hospitalist utilization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or congestive heart failure pathways from 7% to 90%. He launched interdisciplinary rounding between hospitalists and nursing to strengthen coordination and patient-centered care, and implemented operating room block scheduling to increase utilization from 55% to 85%. He also broadened physician participation in peer review while preserving a fair, learning-focused culture. Notably, he remains clinically active as a breast surgeon and is a highly visible leader who rounds weekly across departments, breaking down silos and reinforcing shared ownership of safety and quality. 

Mark Olszyk, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs for Carroll Hospital (Westminster, Md.). Dr. Olszyk is chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Carroll Hospital, serving as the key bridge between medical staff, hospital leadership and the broader Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health system. His responsibilities span clinical quality, patient safety and regulatory readiness, medical staff governance, credentialing and privileging, and leading performance work across complications, readmissions, mortality and patient experience. He partners closely with nursing, operations and finance to align quality with throughput, access and resource stewardship. He is actively involved in evaluating and governing emerging technologies like AI-enabled tools, supporting documentation, decision support and patient flow with attention to ethics, privacy and equity. He has served in a leadership capacity since 2013, ushering in ongoing improvements in complications, readmissions, sepsis performance, discharge efficiency and length of stay, and readiness. Dr. Olszyk has authored The Chief Medical Officer’s Essential Guidebook, served as a contributor and speaker through the American Association for Physician Leadership, and acted as a key program leader helping develop chief medical officer education and “accelerator” programming. Regionally and statewide, he served more than 11 years on Maryland’s board of physicians. Dr. Olszyk has contributed to LifeBridge Health’s recent recognitions, including multiple American Heart Association “Get With The Guidelines/Mission: Lifeline” awards across system hospitals, a 2025 American Hospital Association “Foster G. McGaw Prize” finalist designation for community service, and continued Great Place to Work certifications.

Jacques Orces, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (Miami). Dr. Orces oversees medical staff affairs, clinical quality, patient safety and physician engagement at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, a pediatric academic medical center. He aligns clinical operations with the hospital’s mission to deliver world-class, family-centered pediatric care, strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration across specialties. Known for his steady leadership during periods of growth and transformation, Dr. Orces advances evidence-based practice while reinforcing a culture of accountability and compassion. He prioritizes physician development and governance, mentoring emerging clinical leaders and promoting transparency in decision-making. His approach emphasizes measurable quality improvement while ensuring physicians are actively engaged in organizational strategy. By uniting clinicians and administrators around shared safety and performance goals, Dr. Orces aims to elevate care delivery for children and families.

Gilbert D. A. Padula, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Market Medical Director of Case Management for St. Elizabeth Hospital and Youngstown (Ohio) Market. Dr. Padula serves as chief medical officer at one of Bon Secours Mercy Health’s largest hospitals and the region’s only level 1 trauma center, with accountability for patient safety, quality, throughput, experience of care and medical staff affairs. In parallel, as market director for case management, he leads physician-engaged throughput and care management work to improve flow in a highly complex environment. There are multiple measurable outcomes attributed to his leadership: in 2025, the hospital reported zero conditional clinical findings from The Joint Commission; hospital-acquired infections were reduced by 86%; and there were over 200 consecutive days with zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections or central line-associated bloodstream infections across 2024–25. Additional operational gains include an over 5% reduction in average length of stay, improvements in discharges before noon, creation of fast-track stress echocardiogram pathways to safely discharge emergency department patients and avoid admissions, and process changes to reduce MRI/stress echocardiogram delays that previously rolled to the next day. There was also an 18% reduction in all-cause readmissions in 2025. Physician experience improved as well, along with governance work, as Dr. Padula is co-leading revisions to medical staff bylaws to strengthen physician-led peer review. Beyond hospital operations, Dr. Padula contributes to oncology research and clinical trials, is a member or committee leader for professional societies, and serves on community boards.

Michael Palumbo, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at White Plains Hospital (White Plains, N.Y.). As chief medical officer, Dr. Palumbo oversees nearly 1,500 physicians and all clinical operations, leading initiatives to advance quality, safety and patient experience across the hospital and its ambulatory network. He is highly visible and accessible to staff, with regular physician meetings and a consistent on-site presence. He also oversees two internal newsletters to keep employees informed. He joined White Plains Hospital in 2005 as the founding medical director of the adult hospitalist program, growing it from four physicians to nearly 60 hospitalists across multiple specialties, and he was named executive vice president and medical director in 2009 before becoming chief medical officer in 2018. His contributions include involvement in major service expansions such as the 2021 launch of the Montefiore cardiac surgery program, which brought open-heart surgery to the hospital. He also led the 2023 appointment of an executive director of neurosciences, the 2023 launch of the Montefiore structural heart program with transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and the 2025 addition of the ION robotic bronchoscopy platform to support earlier lung cancer diagnosis. Additional leadership roles include board service with Hospice of Westchester and Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, both in White Plains.

Joseph Parra, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Medical City Healthcare (Dallas). Dr. Parra provides senior clinical direction for the Medical City Healthcare network. He collaborates closely with physicians, clinicians, colleagues and hospital executive leadership to ensure the successful implementation of the division’s vast and multifaceted patient care initiatives. His focus is to ensure outstanding clinical care through exceptionally effective and compliant quality management programs, including patient and employee safety initiatives.

Vishwas Patel, MD. Chief Clinical Officer, Hampton Roads (Va.) Market at Bon Secours. Dr. Patel serves as chief clinical officer for the Bon Secours Hampton Roads Market, overseeing clinical operations, quality of care, staff performance and protocol standardization across the regional enterprise. He partners with executive and physician leaders to align clinical delivery with strategic and operational priorities, all while reinforcing evidence-based, patient-centered care. In addition to market oversight, Dr. Patel serves as medical director of palliative care and hospice programs, strengthening interdisciplinary models that prioritize comfort, dignity and care coordination for patients with complex illnesses. As chair of the credentialing committee at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., he ensures rigorous professional standards and physician alignment. His background in hospital medicine and palliative care informs quality improvement initiatives and clinical governance strategies across the market. By maintaining close engagement with frontline clinicians, Dr. Patel advances consistent care standards, strengthens accountability and supports sustainable clinical performance across the Hampton Roads region.

Robert Peltier, MD. Chief Medical Officer at North Oaks Health System (Hammond, La.). Dr. Peltier has served as chief medical officer since 2007, guiding North Oaks Health System through sustained growth while advancing clinical quality, patient safety and operational performance. A board-certified internist and hospitalist, he bridges frontline insight with executive strategy and played a central role in launching the system’s graduate medical education program in 2024, with a goal of training 48 residents simultaneously by 2030. His leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic earned international recognition from the International Hospital Federation’s “Beyond the Call of Duty” awards, placing North Oaks among just 13 U.S. hospitals honored. He chairs the Louisiana Hospital Association’s chief medical officer roundtable, and also serves on its finance and oversight committee, influencing policy and quality statewide. With training in tropical and travel medicine, Dr. Peltier has also been recognized as a 2025 and 2020 New Orleans CityBusiness “Healthcare Hero” and was previously named “Physician of the Year” by North Oaks. Beyond the hospital, he serves as medical director for the Southeastern Louisiana University Infirmary and the City of Hammond Juvenile Drug Court Clinic, extending his clinical leadership to vulnerable populations across the region.

Robert “Bob” Pendleton, MD. Regional Chief Clinical Officer at SSM Health St. Louis and Southern Illinois. Dr. Pendleton serves as chief physician executive for SSM Health’s St. Louis and Southern Illinois regions, providing leadership across hospitals and medical groups while overseeing regional clinical operations. He aligns physicians, clinical operations and system strategy by partnering with hospital presidents and regional executives to advance clinical integration, quality, safety, access and physician engagement across acute, ambulatory and specialty settings. Known for building trust with physicians, Dr. Pendleton has led continued medical group growth and strengthened alignment between hospital-based and ambulatory providers. His leadership emphasizes aligning incentives around quality and value, creating environments where physicians are meaningfully engaged in improving outcomes, patient experience and operational performance. He also serves on the board of the Missouri Health Value Collaborative, supporting regional efforts to improve value in healthcare delivery. Previously, Dr. Pendleton served as chief quality officer for Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care and as chief medical and quality officer for Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health, bringing deep expertise in enterprise quality strategy and clinical integration.

Eric Perez, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Health Chilton Medical Center (Pompton Plains, N.J.). Dr. Perez serves as chief medical officer at Chilton Medical Center, overseeing quality, patient safety and palliative care while advancing physician engagement and alignment within the hospital and systemwide. He works closely with medical staff and system leaders to standardize best practices, strengthen care coordination and support service line growth in partnership with Atlantic Health’s physician group. Under his leadership, Chilton Medical Center has maintained national recognition for care quality, including an “A” Leapfrog safety grade and inclusion among Healthgrades’ “America’s 250 Best Hospitals” list for 2025. He serves as physician lead for Atlantic Health’s credentialing and privileging process, reinforcing clinical standards across the system. During the Covid-19 Delta and Omicron surges, he acted as physician lead for the system’s command center, guiding coordinated clinical response efforts. Board-certified in emergency medicine, Dr. Perez previously served as medical director of emergency services at Chilton and as vice chairman and associate medical director at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in Summit, N.J.

Todd Peters, MD. Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer for Sheppard Pratt (Towson, Md.). Dr. Peters serves as vice president, chief medical officer and chief medical information officer at Sheppard Pratt, where he manages physicians and oversees quality care across the organization. He leads efforts to integrate technology that enhances care delivery and streamlines Sheppard Pratt’s systems, including the patient portal and EHR, in alignment with the 21st Century Cures Act. In 2022, Dr. Peters spearheaded the redesign of Sheppard Pratt’s admissions process, improving patient access to care and addressing rising mental health needs. He also oversees the psychiatric residency program with the University of Maryland and plays a key role in infection control efforts. Clinically, he has worked on adolescent inpatient units and as an electroconvulsive therapy provider. Dr. Peters is a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and an active voice in national healthcare IT discussions.

Walter Peters, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas). Dr. Peters has primary accountability for clinical excellence, quality initiatives and physician leadership development at Baylor Scott & White Health. After joining Baylor Scott & White in 2015, Dr. Peters, an expert in enhanced recovery after surgery, launched a pilot of the multimodal perioperative care pathway. Now fully operationalized across the health system for colorectal, gynecology and urology surgery patients, the pathway has improved patient satisfaction, delivered better outcomes and reduced length of stay by 40%. An Enhanced Recovery After Surgery USA Society board member, Dr. Peters and Baylor Scott & White Health are recognized leaders in advancing the approach. Dr. Peters previously served as the system’s chief surgical officer and chief of colorectal surgery, as well as vice chief of the department of surgery at Baylor University Medical Center and surgical services chair for HealthTexas Provider Network.

Gratia Pitcher, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Essentia Health (Duluth, Minn.). Dr. Pitcher serves as the chief medical officer for Essentia Health, where she leads efforts to enhance quality, patient experience and clinician wellbeing through a holistic approach. With 15 years of experience in primary care for adults, Dr. Pitcher remains dedicated to serving patients as a practicing hospitalist. Previously, she held the role of chief quality and safety officer. Since taking on her current role, Dr. Pitcher has streamlined the medical staff executive committees across Essentia’s hospitals, ensuring consistency in bylaws and regulations crucial for guiding processes such as credentialing and privileging. Her leadership has led to significant improvements in quality measures, including achieving top performance in hypertension control and breast cancer screening. Under her guidance, several Essentia hospitals have earned 5-star ratings from the CMS.

Bill Plauth, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). With his extensive background as a clinician and executive, Dr. Plauth engages with clinical teams at Renown Health to adopt innovative approaches that promote ease of practice. He provides expertise, coordination and leadership in support of elected medical staff leaders, and recently combined the strengths of two hospital medical staffs into one. He also serves as associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine, where he promotes professionalism in medical education and clinical research while advancing the academic and research integration of Nevada’s first fully integrated health system. Board-certified in both internal medicine and hospice and palliative care, Dr. Plauth is a leader in quality improvement, patient safety and clinical informatics. He is helping to lead the organization’s transition to a high-reliability organization, drawing on his proven experience implementing the principles at prior health systems to advance teamwork, patient safety and clinical excellence. Dr. Plauth also oversees “Healthy Nevada Project,” the country’s largest community-based population health study, which combines genetic, clinical, environmental and social data and informs 62,500 research study Nevada participants on their risks for tier 1 genetic conditions.

Andrew N. Pollak, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at University of Maryland Medical System (Baltimore). Dr. Pollak serves as senior vice president and chief clinical officer of the University of Maryland Medical System, leading systemwide clinical quality, safety and performance across Maryland’s largest integrated academic health system. He oversees enterprise strategies tied to high reliability, outcomes measurement and clinical effectiveness. He partners with hospital presidents, physician leaders and frontline teams to drive consistent, evidence-based care across academic and community settings. A University of Maryland School of Medicine orthopaedics faculty member with deep roots at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Dr. Pollak grounds executive decision-making in frontline clinical credibility and case-based learning. Over the past 12–18 months, he has advanced the system’s safety and quality agenda through enterprise performance reviews aligned to national benchmarking, standardized clinical tactics across hospitals, and regular executive safety huddles that elevate accountability. Earlier in his career, he helped lead the major extremity trauma research consortium, directing multi-million-dollar federally funded studies to improve limb salvage and applying that rigor to systemwide error prevention via real-time safety dashboards and rapid-cycle improvement. He also brings a state policy lens from his tenure as chairman of the Maryland Health Care Commission, informing system strategy with a broader view of healthcare delivery and regulation.

Daniel del Portal, MD. Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Operations at Temple University Health System (Philadelphia). Dr. del Portal is chief clinical officer and senior vice president of medical operations for Temple University Health System. He is past president of the Temple University Hospital medical staff. His clinical interests include emergency medicine, cardiac arrest, trauma, sepsis and healthcare quality improvement. He conducts research on the topics of hospital efficiency and capacity management, emergency department operations and leadership development in health care. He is the recipient of Temple University’s “Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award” and the “Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award” from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Kevin Post, DO. Chief Medical Officer at Avera Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Dr. Post spent 14 years in rural primary care and emergency medicine before being named chief medical officer in 2019 for Avera Medical Group, Avera’s group of employed physicians and advanced practice providers. In 2023, his position was broadened as chief medical officer for the entire health system, giving him the additional oversight of system quality and informatics. Dr. Post has been a champion for physicians through both innovations and challenges. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he encouraged physician leadership and problem solving. He has built upon Avera’s innovative service line model, which strives for standardized evidence-based practices, physician collegiality and care continuity across service lines. Through his involvement in Avera’s physician and dyad academies, he lives out his passion for developing others. He has been a proponent for improvements to “LIGHT,” Avera’s wellbeing program for providers, which has helped physicians practice more efficiently, limit after-hours work and create capacity. He has also been a physician advocate and trainer for EHR conversions and upgrades. 

O’Neil Pyke, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Jackson North Medical Center (Miami). As an experienced physician with an over 20-year history of working compassionately and strategically in diverse patient environments, Dr. Pyke enhances the clinical team at Jackson North Medical Center. In his role, he oversees the daily operations of the medical center. Dr. Pyke is board certified in internal medicine and is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. 

Tauqeer Qazi, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Vernon Memorial Healthcare/Vernon Health (Viroqua, Wis.). Dr. Qazi serves as chief medical officer of a rural critical access hospital and multi-clinic health system in southwestern Wisconsin, providing clinical leadership across inpatient, emergency, surgical, obstetric and ambulatory services. He holds direct responsibility for more than 60 physicians and advanced practice providers, and oversees clinical quality, patient safety and regulatory compliance. In partnership with executive leadership, he leads physician alignment, operational performance, and long-term sustainability amid rural reimbursement and workforce challenges. His portfolio includes medical staff governance, including credentialing, bylaws and peer review, as well as infection prevention, pharmacy and therapeutics, and quality and safety oversight. He also holds senior administrative responsibilities within the organization’s ACO and participates on a multi-hospital clinical integration committee that guides clinically integrated network strategy and alignment with CMS value-based models. He has prior leadership experience as a lead medical director and quality specialist for a national utilization review organization, where he oversaw more than 45 physicians and managed complex Medicare grievances and appeals using CMS guidance and medical-necessity frameworks. He is uniquely focused on responsible adoption and governance that strengthens clinical workflows, physician engagement and reliable care delivery in resource-constrained settings.

Ira Rabin, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Northwest Hospital (Baltimore, Md.). Dr. Rabin serves as the senior medical executive at Northwest Hospital, overseeing clinical operations, medical strategy and regulatory compliance while aligning patient care priorities with organizational goals. He leads quality improvement, utilization management and performance analytics, including readmission tracking, and serves as a key liaison between clinical teams and hospital leadership to optimize resource use and outcomes. A board-certified internist and member of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Rabin brings decades of frontline clinical experience to his work in quality, safety, throughput and population health management. He also supports clinical teaching for residents and students and serves as the point of contact for physician credentialing and order certification. Previously, he served as a physician advisor focused on rounding, discharge optimization, and coordination with ancillary services and skilled nursing facilities, strengthening transitions of care. Dr. Rabin additionally serves as an advisory board member for the District of Columbia’s Department of Healthcare Finance, extending his perspective on value and policy beyond the hospital setting.

Andrew Racine, MD, PhD. System Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Montefiore Health System (New York City). As system senior vice president and CMO, Dr. Racine has a broad range of responsibilities for the health system, including medical affairs, quality and safety, patient experience, graduate medical education, bioethics, the primary care ambulatory network, and continuing medical education initiatives. Additionally, as the executive director of the Montefiore Medical Group, Dr. Racine oversees Montefiore’s 21-site primary and specialty care network, as well as the largest comprehensive school health program in the U.S. Since joining Montefiore in 1998, Dr. Racine has been an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Additionally, he was appointed to the board of directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nation’s premier institution for academic economic research. One of the most notable accomplishments under Dr. Racine’s leadership has been the implementation of social determinants of health into screenings systemwide. 

Brian Radbill, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center (Summit, N.J.). Dr. Radbill provides clinical leadership for Overlook Medical Center’s 1,794 physicians, including teams at the Atlantic Neuroscience Institute and Overlook Emergency Services–Union Campus. Since taking on the chief medical officer role in 2024, he has advanced clinical excellence and operational performance by strengthening accountability culture and improving efficiency, including efforts to reduce length of stay and readmissions. In 2025, he launched daily afternoon huddles to sharpen discharge planning, communication and situational awareness. He also established weekly senior-leadership rounding to increase visibility into frontline operations. Dr. Radbill has been a key advocate for physician-led service innovation, supporting new technologies that expanded capabilities in neuroscience, spine surgery, general surgery and hernia surgery. He has also helped operationalize Overlook’s East Building expansion, including a new neuro-critical care unit. He co-chairs Atlantic Health’s hospital acquired infections device reduction committee and co-chairs the system’s clinical effectiveness committee, extending his impact beyond a single campus. A board-certified nephrologist, Dr. Radbill previously served as chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City, and has contributed to patient education through documentary work focused on chronic hemodialysis.

Arshad Rahim, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Population Health for Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Dr. Rahim serves as chief medical officer and senior vice president of population health for Mount Sinai Health System, where he leads population health clinical programs that support more than 475,000 patients across value-based and performance-based contracts. As chief medical officer of the Mount Sinai Clinically Integrated Network, he oversees approximately 5,600 primary care and specialty providers, ambulatory surgery centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers, driving value-based performance, credentialing, network optimization and clinical-data integration. He has developed systemwide ambulatory condition management standards, as well as Epic-based disease registries and dashboards targeting high-impact conditions and producing measurable quality gains. Under his leadership, the Mount Sinai Medicare ACO has achieved shared savings every year since 2019, including 7% net savings in 2023 and continued top-tier Medicare Advantage performance in the New York market. He drives payer strategy and implementation across multiple CMS and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation models, while reporting ambulatory quality performance directly to the board of trustees. His innovative programs, which span remote patient monitoring, ambulatory care management, community paramedicine and rapid-access behavioral health, have generated sustainable return on investment while improving outcomes and access. Nationally, he serves in senior leadership roles with the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations and America’s Physician Groups.

George Ralls, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Orlando (Fla.) Health. Dr. Ralls oversees clinical quality, graduate medical education, medical staff services, corporate safety, infection prevention, regulatory and occupational health for the health system. As the primary executive leader over medical staff services, he supports physicians in over 100 subspecialties at Orlando Health. Under his leadership, Orlando Health hospitals were recognized by U.S. News & World Report in their 2025-26 “Best Hospitals” rankings for multiple specialties. Orlando Health has also received multiple “Beacon Awards for Excellence” in bedside care.

Margaret Reidy, MD. Chief Medical Officer at UCHealth (Aurora, Colo.). Dr. Reidy is chief medical officer for UCHealth, a nonprofit health system that spans Colorado, southern Wyoming and western Nebraska. University of Colorado Hospital is the academic anchor and the only adult academic medical center in the Rocky Mountain region. Dr. Reidy serves as the liaison between providers and system administration to ensure that the highest standards of quality clinical care and service for patients are maintained. She also leads efforts to develop innovative, high-quality and cost-effective treatments across the system.

Justin Reisenauer, MD. Chief Medical Officer, Sanford Health Bismarck (N.D.) Region. Dr. Reisenauer oversees clinical operations and physician leadership across Sanford Health’s Bismarck Region, ensuring high-quality, patient-centered care delivery in a broad regional network. An emergency medicine physician with 14 years of experience, he brings frontline operational insight to executive leadership, having previously led clinical operations and schedule management initiatives that drove efficiency and reliability in emergency care. He also served as chief medical officer of a rural hospital, strengthening community-based healthcare strategy and governance prior to assuming his regional role. In addition to his executive responsibilities, Dr. Reisenauer is a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, where he mentors residents and medical students and supports workforce development in a predominantly rural state. Outside of his executive role, he holds certifications in wilderness medicine and completes volunteer work at summer camps for children with medical needs. 

Richard Riggs, MD. Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles). During the nearly three decades of his career, Dr. Riggs has spearheaded initiatives that have significantly improved patient care. In his role as chief medical officer, he oversees the clinical quality, medical standards, efficiency and effective use of clinical resources at the system, which serves 1 million people a year. 

Joseph Roberts, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at UNC Health Southeastern (Lumberton, N.C.). Since 2020, Dr. Roberts has served as vice president and chief medical officer for UNC Health Southeastern, overseeing the medical staff along with medical education, infection control and quality departments. He provides leadership oversight for a residency and fellowship program comprising approximately 100 individuals. He also brings deep roots in Robeson County, with a career shaped by service and community return, including early practice with the Indian Health Service at the Choctaw Nation Indian Hospital in Oklahoma. He also brings more than two decades leading Lumber River Family Practice in Lumberton after opening it in 1994. He transitioned to a full-time system role in 2016 as the complexity of practice operations grew nationwide, bringing frontline perspective into executive leadership. Beyond the hospital, Dr. Roberts has served on organizational governance bodies and continues community-facing leadership, including appointment to the Lumbee Tribe board of health in 2022 and ongoing service as medical director for Community Hospice in Lumberton, as well as prior medical directorships for long-term care and other entities. 

Candace Stevens Robinson, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Touro (New Orleans). Dr. Robinson serves as chief medical officer of Touro, leading clinical quality, patient safety, medical staff engagement and regulatory compliance across inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory services. She oversees medical staff governance, credentialing, peer review, physician performance and recruitment. Dr. Robinson also leads quality, patient safety, accreditation and performance improvement efforts to ensure evidence-based practice is consistently applied. A board-certified emergency medicine physician with more than 15 years of clinical practice and over nine years of healthcare leadership, Dr. Robinson brings calm, decisive operational leadership shaped by high-acuity frontline experience. Prior to joining Touro, she served as the inaugural chief medical officer of New Orleans East Hospital from 2019-24, after more than seven years as emergency department medical director, building governance and quality infrastructure for a hospital serving a highly vulnerable community. She also serves on the Region 1 Louisiana Emergency Response Network Commission and mentors future physicians as a liaison to Xavier University’s pre-med program. 

Karen A. Santucci, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Greenwich (Conn.) Hospital. Dr. Santucci serves as chief medical officer and senior vice president of Greenwich Hospital, providing strategic oversight for clinical programs, medical staff services and medical administrative functions while advancing the hospital’s clinical growth plan and subspecialty expansion. Reporting to the hospital president and CEO and the system chief clinical officer, she leads quality and safety priorities and oversees medical administrative functions with the vice president of medical affairs reporting to her. Dr. Santucci also plays a key role in aligning Greenwich Hospital’s clinical strategy with Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health systemwide goals. A pediatric emergency medicine physician with more than two decades of experience, she spent over 21 years at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, including serving as section chief of pediatric emergency medicine and later vice chair of clinical affairs. She helped expand pediatric services at Greenwich Hospital by establishing 24/7 pediatric emergency medicine specialist coverage and supporting the development of a pediatric hospitalist program to strengthen inpatient continuity. As an educator and program builder, she founded Yale’s pediatric emergency medicine fellowship in 2000 and led it for seven years, shaping workforce development nationally. Under her clinical leadership at Greenwich, the organization earned Leapfrog “A” safety grades in spring and fall 2025, as well as American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus” awards in 2024 and 2025.

Rohith Saravanan, MD. Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Midland (Texas) Health/Midland Memorial Hospital. Dr. Saravanan serves as vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer for Midland Health/Midland Memorial Hospital, acting as the senior executive responsible for clinical performance across the system. He leads clinical initiatives, establishes best practices, advances clinical standardization and optimization, and supports ongoing health system integration across inpatient and ambulatory environments. His portfolio includes medical staff quality oversight, credentialing, bylaws compliance and medical education, alongside physician alignment, engagement and data-informed performance improvement. He has developed a reputation for moving complex priorities from discussion to sustained implementation, all while building trust across employed and independent medical staff, always holding clear expectations around safety and accountability. Previously, as regional chief medical officer for Steward Health in West Texas, he helped improve Leapfrog scores from “D” to “A” and “B” within one year and led quality, safety, credentialing, education, service-line development and recruitment. He also jointly led a broad community coalition during Covid-19 to coordinate responses across local civic and healthcare partners. Dr. Saravanan holds deep operator-and-investor experience, including raising capital, evaluating acquisitions, and advising or investing in healthcare startups such as Obstetra Care and mobriseHealth. He additionally serves as president of the Texas Midwest American College of Healthcare Executives chapter and has held community leadership roles including chairing “Project Blueprint” and “Leadership Odessa.”

Leudvig Sardarian, MD. Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Wellness Officer at Frederick (Md.) Health. Dr. Sardarian leads systemwide quality improvement initiatives, drives performance on nationally benchmarked safety and quality metrics, leads wellness initiatives designed to improve the health and wellbeing of clinical staff, and supports the implementation of evidence-based clinical practices that improve outcomes and patient experience. Under Dr. Sardarian’s leadership, Frederick Health achieved a 67% reduction in Maryland hospital acquired conditions, reducing preventable complications for patients. He also achieved a 44% reduction in infections tracked by the National Health Safety Network, and a 59% reduction in patient safety indicators. These contributed to Frederick Health’s safety grade improving from a “C” to an “A.” Dr. Sardarian is one of the first physician leaders in Maryland to hold both chief medical officer and chief wellness officer roles concurrently. He is implementing evidence-based strategies and first-hand clinical experience to improve staff wellness and long-term organizational sustainability. His strategies include hosting workshops and lectures on the power of formal mindfulness and the science behind personal wellbeing.

Bryon Schaeffer, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Clarinda (Iowa) Regional Health Center. Dr. Schaeffer oversees clinical operations at Clarinda Regional Health Center, ensuring high-quality patient care and prioritizing safety in every visit and care plan. Since assuming the role in 2018, he has implemented medical policies aimed at maintaining consistent care and compliance with accreditation standards. In addition to his leadership role, Dr. Schaeffer continues to see patients and perform cardiac stress testing. He is dedicated to advancing care processes and regularly attends conferences to keep the hospital aligned with the latest trends and technologies in healthcare. Dr. Schaeffer first joined Clarinda Medical Associates in 2014.

Jeffrey Schuster, MD. Chief Medical Officer at El Paso (Texas) Children’s Hospital. Dr. Schuster, a physician with expertise in pediatric clinical operations, serves as chief medical officer for El Paso Children’s Hospital. He improves quality of care while providing guidance to the hospital’s executive team regarding physician, program development and service line needs. He is a liaison between the hospital administration and medical staff, as well as the go-between for the hospital and academic medical centers. Dr. Schuster brings over 20 years of experience in pediatrics to his role. 

Niraj Sehgal, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive for Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. As well as serving as executive vice president and chief physician executive for Stanford Health Care, Dr. Sehgal is a professor of medicine and senior associate dean for clinical affairs at Stanford University School of Medicine. In his role, Dr. Sehgal emphasizes interprofessional teamwork, building multidisciplinary partnerships and advocating for health equity. Before rejoining Stanford in 2020, Dr. Sehgal spent 16 years at University of California San Francisco, where he held several leadership roles, including inaugural chief quality officer. 

Tom Sequist, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Mass General Brigham (Boston). Dr. Sequist is responsible for developing and executing strategy, policy and metrics for patient experience, quality, safety, health equity, community health, pharmacy and physician wellbeing across the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. He led a broad reorganization of the chief medical officer role and function across the twelve hospitals in the Mass General Brigham system, including its academic medical centers and specialty and community hospitals. Under Dr. Sequist’s leadership, Mass General Brigham launched “United Against Racism,” a systemwide framework for addressing structural racism, which includes a number of initiatives designed to foster and retain a more diverse leadership and workforce, create an equitable and thriving workplace culture, improve access and remove barriers to healthcare for all patients, and invest in community and mental health. Dr. Sequist also leads “For Every Patient,”  a multi-year effort designed to align, improve and measure quality of care across four priority areas, including effective, safe, equitable care and a better patient experience. He is also a practicing general internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, as well as a professor of medicine and health care policy at Harvard Medical School.

Rawle “Tony” Seupaul, MD. Chief Physician Executive and President of Carilion Clinic Physicians at Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.). Dr. Seupaul leads Carilion Clinic’s multispecialty physician group of more than 900 physicians and 500 advanced practice providers across 86 specialties, aligning clinical excellence, quality, physician engagement and organizational strategy. He strengthens clinical governance by empowering physician leaders and advancing evidence-based practice to reduce variation and improve outcomes, including recruiting four new department chairs to deepen accountability across key service lines. A visible physician executive, Dr. Seupaul has hosted physician roundtables and convened an all-physician conference to accelerate transparency, share best practices and align clinicians around systemwide quality and safety priorities. Under his leadership, recruitment and retention efforts have expanded the group to nearly 1,000 physicians, improving access and continuity across the region. He also advanced research and funding efforts to support innovation and high-quality care delivery while prioritizing physician wellbeing as a prerequisite for safety and performance. Carilion Clinic earned the American Medical Association’s “Joy in Medicine” bronze award for the first time in 2025, reflecting progress on burnout and the physician experience during his tenure. An emergency medicine leader, Dr. Seupaul previously served as executive associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

Marybeth Sexton, MD. Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center (Towson). Dr. Sexton has primary responsibility for clinical care at UM St. Joseph Medical Center, including oversight of quality, patient safety, regulatory readiness, peer review, infection prevention and performance improvement. She serves as a key partner to the hospital president, administrative liaison to the board quality committee, and executive leader for Joint Commission readiness. She also acts as liaison between the medical staff and hospital departments on policies, bylaws and rules. Since joining in spring 2025, she has spearheaded interdisciplinary bedside rounding, with the pilot unit improving scores for physician-nurse rounding compliance from 48% to 78% over six months. She has integrated infection prevention, quality and physician representation into nursing unit quality councils to strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration and expanded medical staff education by restarting morbidity and mortality conferences and developing clinical decision support for winter respiratory surges. She partnered with analytics to build new dashboards and reports for executives and physicians, improving data visibility and shared understanding. She is restructuring the root cause analysis process to elevate frontline input, with recent analyses producing new guidelines for life-threatening skin and soft tissue infections, a multispecialty consult team for diagnostic mysteries and a mortality review committee. She is also expanding the hospital’s academic mission with a plan to add medical student rotations in five additional specialties next academic year. She serves as a clinical professor of infectious diseases at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Ghanshyam Shah, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital (Barrington, Ill.). An experienced physician leader, Dr. Shah has a storied history in healthcare safety, quality, efficiency, IT and value-based care. He assumed the role of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital’s chief medical officer in September 2021. In his role, he aims to aid the delivery of improved individual care, enhanced population health, and reduced costs. 

Mayank K. Shah, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Condell Medical Center (Libertyville, Ill.). Dr. Shah aids Advocate Condell Medical Center’s team members in providing patients with outstanding outcomes and superior safety. To do this, he works closely with clinical and operational leaders. He leads physician behavior change initiatives and brings experience in ambulatory, inpatient, academic and community settings. 

Nina Shah, MD. Senior Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer at HonorHealth (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Dr. Shah leads clinical strategy, quality and patient safety across HonorHealth’s nine acute care hospitals and associated ambulatory and outpatient sites, with operational oversight spanning infection control, case management, utilization review and regulatory performance. She champions the system’s high-reliability journey through “Just Culture” and “CANDOR,” advancing transparency and learning that has contributed to improved outcomes and stronger CMS and Leapfrog performance. As executive sponsor for the network quality committee and multiple clinical collaboratives, Dr. Shah aligns multidisciplinary teams around shared standards and evidence-informed pathways. Her accomplishments include accelerating the adoption of clinical pathways, improving operational efficiency through pharmacy and lab initiatives, and expanding palliative care access. She was also tasked with guiding pandemic-era clinical triage planning and a futility policy framework. She supports HonorHealth’s academic partnership with Arizona State University’s School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, shaping clinical strategy and educational planning for future physicians. With prior roles as COO and chief medical officer at HonorHealth hospitals, Dr. Shah brings a track record of turning quality, safety and clinical value strategy into measurable systemwide results.

K. Samer Shamieh, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Lead Spine Surgeon at Avala (Covington, La.). Dr. Shamieh serves as chief medical officer of Avala while practicing as lead spine surgeon, overseeing a multi-specialty private practice that includes spine physicians, neurosurgeons, pain management and neurology across five locations. In his role, he is responsible for ensuring safe, high-quality, patient-centered care across the network, which includes a hospital, surgery center, diagnostic imaging, physician clinics and therapy services. He collaborates with medical staff, department leaders and committees to support clinical operations, uphold credentialing and peer-review standards, and foster transparency and trust. He plays a key role in driving strategic initiatives that link clinical excellence with operational performance, including implementing evidence-based protocols, expanding minimally invasive and robotic procedures, and enhancing patient experience. He also champions physician engagement and professional development while helping scale the network without compromising quality or outcomes. In additional roles, he serves as chairman of the board of directors at Avala, and holds professional and civic leadership positions at the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association and the Louisiana Board of Regents for the 1st Congressional District.

Ghazala Sharieff, MD. Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Operations Officer of Acute Care at Scripps Health (San Diego). Dr. Sharieff serves as corporate executive vice president and chief medical and operations officer for acute care at Scripps Health, overseeing hospital operations, quality, supply chain, pharmacy, support services, information services and employee assistance across the system’s inpatient enterprise. She leads efforts to reduce unnecessary clinical variation and strengthen care coordination through direct engagement with frontline physicians and staff. Dr. Sharieff launched multidisciplinary “sprint teams” to accelerate performance improvement, contributing to reported reductions of 67% in overall surgical site infections, including a 50% reduction in colon-related SSIs, 37% in central line infections, 20% in catheter-associated urinary tract infections and 15% in C. difficile infections, along with significant decreases in patient falls in emergency departments and medical-surgical units. She also spearheaded pharmacy program redesign across acute and ambulatory settings, achieving $4.4 million in drug savings and a $7.6 million favorable budget variance in acute care, as well as $3 million in labor and supply savings through productivity optimization. In ambulatory pharmacy operations, initiatives under her oversight drove 80% growth in pharmacist-led osteoporosis care, generating $4 million in contribution margin and specialty pharmacy expansion and producing $40 million in net contribution on a $10 million budget. 

Gulshan Sharma, MD. Senior Vice President, Chief Medical and Clinical Innovation Officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston). Dr. Sharma has worked for UTMB Health for more than a decade. The health system went from earning 3-star to 5-star rankings on Vizient’s quality and accountability study under Dr. Sharma’s leadership. Prior to his current roles, Dr. Sharma served as director, division of pulmonary and critical care and sleep medicine for UTMB. 

Tyler Shriver, DO. Medical Director at Hanover (Kan.) Hospital and Warren Clinic. Dr. Shriver serves as medical director at Hanover Hospital and Warren Clinic, serving in the role equivalent to chief medical officer. There, he is tasked with providing clinical leadership and oversight to maintain high standards of patient care, safety and quality across both settings. His responsibilities include collaborating with providers and staff to guide clinical policies and best practices, coordinating care between departments, and partnering with administration on operational and quality-improvement initiatives. Dr. Shriver is a highly engaged, hands-on leader who consistently updates clinical practices to align with current standards, strengthens consistency and accountability, and fosters a culture of teamwork and collaboration. Beyond internal leadership, he supports medical education through mentorship of residents from the Smoky Hill Family Medicine Program in Salina, Kan. and works closely with local emergency medical services to strengthen emergency response and continuity of care. He also founded and serves as president of a two-county “Quail Forever” chapter, participates in the “Bee and Butterfly Project” and advocates for rural prosperity. The hospital has been recognized for the ambulance service’s performance and dedication. In addition, both organizations maintain a “Living Legacy” recognition, honoring long-serving physicians who have made significant contributions to healthcare in the Hanover community. 

Reetu Singh, MD. Senior Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer at ​​Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, Okla.). As chief medical officer of Saint Francis Health System, Dr. Singh manages staff physicians across the health system’s acute care hospitals and its affiliated physician group. Dr. Singh’s unique background in informatics, clinical medicine, documentation and medical staff leadership sets her apart as a data-driven leader. Her expertise in these areas allows her to drive quality of care initiatives across the continuum of care. Under her leadership, Saint Francis Health System has set ambitious goals to achieve 4-5 star ratings from CMS. During her tenure, the health system has seen multiple facilities achieve 4-star ratings, and US News & World Report named Saint Francis Hospital the No. 1 hospital in Oklahoma for 2025-26.

Sanjay P. Singh, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Executive at Allina Health (Minneapolis). Dr. Singh serves as executive vice president and chief clinical executive, providing leadership to Allina Health’s physician and provider enterprise while continuing to practice as a neurologist. Working with institute presidents, he helps further develop the system’s distinctive clinical programs, including the Brain and Spine Institute, Minneapolis Heart Institute and Cancer Institute, with an emphasis on recruiting top providers, investing in technology and incorporating research. He is credited with ushering first-to-market treatments, including the first implantation of the TriClip System in the nation at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute to treat tricuspid regurgitation. To strengthen connections across a system of more than 2,000 providers, he oversees a weekly email highlighting program offerings, clinical advancements and continuing education opportunities. He helped create Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s adult neurology residency program to train neurologists committed to lifelong learning and community support. A world-renowned, board-certified epileptologist and neurologist, he has authored a book, contributed chapters and articles, delivered more than 200 presentations, and has supported underserved populations through free continuing medical education programs he funded for local physicians in India. He also holds leadership and professional roles, including serving as president of the Association of Indian Neurologists in America.

Carl Sirio, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Temple University Health System (Philadelphia). Dr. Sirio oversees and manages quality and safety programs, risk management and graduate education in his role as chief medical officer for Temple Health. His priority is improving performance excellence systemwide through the enhancement of both clinical and educational quality. In pursuit of this goal, he has helped standardize treatment and assessments of quality and safety. He is a co-founder of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, a nationally-recognized collaborative that standardized care and advocated for zero harm. He is also a founder of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement. Dr. Sirio is a board-certified internist and critical care physician.

Latha Sivaprasad, MD. Chief Medical Officer for VA New England Healthcare System (Bedford, Mass.). Dr. Sivaprasad serves as chief medical officer for the VA New England Healthcare System, providing executive oversight for eight VA medical centers across six states and partnerships with 10 affiliated medical schools, including Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown. She holds full delegated authority for clinical operations across a multibillion-dollar system serving hundreds of thousands of veterans through inpatient, outpatient and community-based services. Her responsibilities include setting strategic direction for patient care programs, overseeing quality and safety, strengthening regulatory compliance, and implementing data-driven management systems that support continuous improvement. She collaborates closely with academic affiliates, community partners and veteran service organizations while ensuring concerns raised by veterans and families are addressed with transparency and accountability. A seasoned physician executive with more than two decades of chief medical officer and chief quality officer experience, she is recognized for advancing evidence-based, patient-centered care while promoting cost stewardship and clinician well-being. An associate professor at Brown and a fellow of the American College of Physicians and Society of Hospital Medicine, she also continues to practice clinically.

Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD. Chief Medical Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City). Dr. Smith is a thoracic medical oncologist specializing in lung cancers and thymoma, with expertise in palliative medicine focused on symptom and side-effect management to improve quality of life. She joined Memorial Sloan Kettering in May 2025 as the institution’s inaugural chief medical officer, with responsibility for clinical quality, patient safety, regulatory compliance and clinical operations across the institution. She is deeply grounded in advocacy and equity. Her research, supported by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Health Research Center, focuses on reducing barriers to care and improving outcomes through novel care-delivery models and stronger communication between patients and physicians. She is also involved in an National Institutes of Health-funded study examining how a cancer doctor’s attitudes or beliefs can influence communication and clinical results. Nationally, she is active in the American Society of Clinical Oncology, serving on the nominating committee and as chair of its annual meeting education program committee, leading the development of educational content for the conference. Prior to joining MSK, she served as chief medical officer for the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center and vice president of cancer clinical affairs at Mount Sinai  in New York City, and as a professor of medicine and of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Kevin Smith, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Tucson (Ariz.) Medical Center. Dr. Smith serves as vice president and chief medical officer at Tucson Medical Center, providing strategic and operational leadership for the clinical enterprise and partnering with executive leaders to advance high-quality, patient-centered care. He leads clinical strategy, aligns physicians around organizational goals, and strengthens engagement across the medical staff while overseeing clinical operations focused on efficiency, integration and collaborative quality programs. Working with the chief of staff and chief of staff-elect, he supports medical staff governance and physician representation and guides physician recruitment, especially for hospital-based physicians and key specialists. He played an integral role during a major transition as TMC moved from a primarily independent physician model to one with more employed providers, developing clinical programs in emergency general surgery, gastrointestinal hospitalists, urology, and most recently cardiology to improve access, coordination and outcomes. He built regular communication forums such as physician town halls and a weekly physician newsletter to promote transparency and shared problem-solving, and he supported physician wellness through the American Medical Association’s “Joy in Medicine” program. He was tasked with aligning independent and employed physicians around key quality metrics, and has contributed to reductions in hospital-acquired infections, stronger patient safety indicator performance and improved mortality index results. He also led the systemwide rollout of high-reliability organization principles across TMC Health. He is currently creating a physician leadership development initiative to build skills, support succession planning and sustain engagement across the medical staff.

Todd Smith, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Smith is executive vice president and chief physician executive at Sutter Health, where he leads clinical strategy and systemwide performance for one of the nation’s largest nonprofit integrated health systems. He has been a driving force behind major advances in capacity, including opening or expanding 31 care sites in 2025 and supporting the recruitment of more than 1,150 clinicians. The system has achieved substantial quality, safety and experience gains under his leadership, including its highest number of Leapfrog “A” safety grades, a 35% reduction in wait time for a new primary care appointment, and stronger patient experience results through systemwide initiatives that improved performance across service settings. An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Smith is known for elevating physician engagement, strengthening operational reliability, and championing accessible, high quality care.

Sadaf Sohrab, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.). Dr. Sohrab serves as the senior clinical executive for Mercy Hospital Springfield, providing strategic leadership, oversight and direction for medical and clinical operations to ensure safe, high-quality, patient-centered care. Her responsibilities encompass clinical governance and quality oversight, including establishing standards of care, monitoring performance, reducing variation, and leading initiatives to improve outcomes, safety and patient experience. She partners with nursing, operations and quality leaders to drive accreditation readiness, regulatory compliance and continuous improvement, while also leading physician engagement and leadership development to foster accountability, collaboration and professional excellence. Operationally, she works with executives across operations, finance, strategy and population health to design and implement clinical programs, optimize resource utilization, improve efficiency, and support care management, informatics, throughput and value-based care initiatives. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to patient throughput, bringing physicians, nursing, operations, case management and ancillary services together around shared goals to reduce barriers to flow and improve transitions of care. She is also known for translating quality metrics into actionable priorities and for her active support of the hospital’s graduate medical education program as a mentor, teacher and advocate for developing the next generation of clinicians.

Brad Spellberg, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Los Angeles General Medical Center. Dr. Spellberg serves as chief medical officer at LA General Medical Center, with dual reporting to the hospital CEO and the health system chief medical officer. He is responsible for providing enterprisewide clinical, operational and physician leadership oversight. He directly oversees 19 chief physicians responsible for more than 1,500 credentialed physicians, the designated institutional official overseeing more than 1,000 residents and fellows, and the departments of risk management, pharmacy and the medical staff office. His tasks include setting clinical strategy, advancing quality and safety, ensuring regulatory and accreditation compliance, and leading workforce recruitment, transitions and succession planning. The system has seen measurable transformation under his leadership, including an improved Leapfrog safety grade that went from “D” to “A,” reducing the mortality index from 1.3 to 0.7, decreasing the length-of-stay index from 1.35 to about 1.00, and increasing case mix index from 1.4 to over 1.7. He oversaw the hiring of more than 270 physicians and allied health professionals during a major staffing transition and restructured physician leadership roles to strengthen accountability and performance. He also led innovations including “Safer@Home” and the nation’s first transitional hemodialysis unit, alongside enterprise infection reduction work and executive leadership of the hospital’s Covid-19 response. In addition, he is the co-founder and CEO of WikiGuidelines, and his work includes national editorial and advisory roles in infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship.

Anitha Srinivasan. Chief Medical Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan (New York City). As chief medical officer of Metropolitan Hospital, a 338-bed acute care facility within the NYC Health + Hospitals system, Dr. Srinivasan provides executive leadership for all clinical operations and medical staff, overseeing more than 300 attending physicians across 18 departments. Her portfolio includes clinical quality, patient safety, risk management, infection prevention, credentialing and medical staff performance evaluation. She also leads graduate medical education in partnership with academic affiliates including New York Medical College, Columbia University and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with 26 residency and fellowship programs serving 408 residents and fellows. She directs operational initiatives spanning perioperative services, specialty care expansion and digital transformation through Epic EHR implementation, and she leads strategic planning for capital projects such as emergency department and operating room modernization. She founded the nationally accredited breast health center in 2017 and drove operational gains including doubling surgical productivity through perioperative redesign, block optimization and workflow standardization, alongside expanding minimally invasive, robotic and advanced surgical procedures. She has led major capital projects totaling $130 million and directed crisis response efforts including pandemic surge capacity, staffing redeployment, and asylum seeker and refugee healthcare. Currently, she also serves as vice dean for New York Medical College at Metropolitan and as designated institutional officer for graduate medical education. She is the hospital’s first woman chief medical officer.

James Stein, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Stein serves as the inaugural senior vice president and chief medical officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he oversees the development of care delivery systems focused on quality, outcomes and operational performance. A member of the hospital since 1996, Dr. Stein has held numerous leadership roles, including vice chair of the surgery department and interim chief of the pediatric surgery division. Renowned for his surgical expertise, he has led or participated in multiple conjoined twin separation surgeries, including a landmark operation in Haiti that gained international attention. Dr. Stein is actively involved in advancing healthcare quality and safety, serving on multiple boards, including the California Children’s Hospital Association Quality Leaders and the Hospital Quality Institute. Recognized for his contributions, he has been named a “top doctor” by The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. News & World Report and Castle Connolly.

Brian Stone, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at VHC Health (Arlington, Va.). Dr. Stone serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer of VHC Health, providing strategic oversight for systemwide clinical operations and leading quality, safety and performance improvement across the organization. He partners with physicians, nursing leaders and executive leadership to set clinical priorities, implement evidence-based standards and reduce unwarranted variation in care, reinforcing a culture of accountability and transparency. A practicing physician with more than 20 years of experience and a former neonatal ICU physician, Dr. Stone leads with frontline credibility shaped by high-acuity environments where teamwork and reliability are essential. He provided steady leadership through major organizational growth, including the opening of the VHC Health Outpatient Pavilion in June 2023, guiding clinical teams through operational change while keeping patient safety and patient experience central. Dr. Stone also remains active in academic medicine as an assistant professor of pediatrics at The George Washington University and a neonatologist at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Under his clinical leadership, VHC Health completed a Joint Commission triennial survey with no conditions and earned recognitions including a CMS 5-star overall hospital rating and American Heart Association “Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Gold Plus” awards.

W. Ross Strong, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Witham Health Services (Lebanon, Ind.). As chief medical officer, Dr. Strong uses a team-based approach to develop cohesive systems of care and champions quality as an overarching organizational priority. He first joined the system in 2015 as a general surgeon and quickly became deeply involved in committees, including utilization review, patient experience, physician leadership, credentials, and the medical executive committee. Over his tenure, he has served in surgical leadership roles as vice chief of surgery and chief of surgery, reflecting a trajectory of increasing responsibility within the organization. He continues to practice as a general surgeon at the system while serving as chief medical officer, and is a member of the Suburban Health Organization Clinically Integrated Network board. Outside of his training as a doctor and surgeon, he has earned formal leadership development as well. The system has been recognized locally under his leadership, including being named one of “Indy’s Top Docs” in Indianapolis Monthly for 2025 through a peer-nomination process.

Hsieng Su, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Executive for Allina Health (Minneapolis). Dr. Su is senior vice president and chief medical executive for Allina Health, where she has executive oversight of clinical performance, safety, quality and population health. In her role, she helps redesign the care delivery model across inpatient, outpatient and post-acute care. She was responsible for establishing the system’s clinical program council, in which top clinical leaders throughout the system collaborate to bring value to patients. She also hosted the system’s inaugural provider leadership retreat in 2024. 

Bruce Swords, MD. Chief Clinical Officer for Bon Secours St. Francis Health System (Greenville, S.C.). Dr. Swords joined Bon Secours Mercy Health in March 2022, bringing with him a wealth of experience in healthcare. Prior to joining the health system’s Greenville market, he served at Cone Health in Greensboro, N.C. During his nearly three decades with the organization, he served as the chief of primary care, the chief medical information officer, chief medical officer and then chief physician executive, overseeing strategic planning, process improvement and physician engagement. Previously, Dr. Swords also served as a physician for LeBauer Health Care, part of the Cone Health Medical Group, from 1996 to 2014. 

Patrick Takahashi, MD. System Chief Medical Officer at Adventist Health (Roseville, Calif.). Dr. Takahashi serves as system chief medical officer for Adventist Health, leading accreditation, quality and safety, risk management, clinical informatics, and hospitalist and inpatient care strategy across multiple states. He has advanced standardization and best-practice adoption across the system, including nurse-management partnered rounding processes designed to increase reliability and reduce variation in inpatient care. These efforts have supported efficiency gains, including shorter length of stay and improved capacity to serve more community members. Dr. Takahashi also chairs the organization’s Epic best practices and standardization committee, aligning EHR optimization with measurable quality and care improvements. A strong advocate for technology-enabled performance acceleration, he focuses on practical informatics that improve care delivery rather than adding burden to frontline teams. He also serves on the board of directors for Adventist Health’s ACO, reinforcing systemwide alignment between quality, utilization and value-based outcomes. Previously a practicing gastroenterologist for more than two decades, Dr. Takahashi has transitioned fully into administration.

Andrew Thomas, MD. Chief Clinical Officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Senior Associate Vice President of Health Sciences at The Ohio State University (Columbus). As chief clinical officer, Dr. Thomas oversees inpatient, outpatient and emergency department services across seven hospitals, outpatient clinics and specialized care facilities, while facilitating collaboration between specialties and coordinating care across departments. He represents physicians “around the business table,” helping guide organizational strategy with a sustained focus on safe, high-quality patient care. He is also involved in major university initiatives spanning EHR implementation, root cause analysis for safety events, patient satisfaction, clinical efficiency, simulation training, professionalism and physician health. Even with executive and academic responsibilities, he maintains regular patient care, seeing patients a couple times each week to stay grounded in clinical realities and the impact of organizational decisions. Most recently, he has been instrumental in planning and executing a new state-of-the-art, 820-private-room University Hospital that aims to replace aging facilities and expand inpatient access. He also served as interim co-leader of the Wexner Medical Center for 19 months from 2021–23, and holds statewide and professional leadership roles, including zone 2 lead for emergency response in Ohio and membership on the governor’s healthcare advisory group.

Hannah Thompson, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Jackson South Medical Center and Jackson West Medical Center (Miami). Dr. Thompson provides strategic, clinical and operational leadership across Jackson South and Jackson West Medical Centers, overseeing quality, patient safety, regulatory readiness, medical staff governance and performance improvement. She also serves as interim chief of staff and interim medical executive sub-committee chair at Jackson West, guiding credentialing, peer review and medical staff development while advancing evidence-based protocols such as enhanced recovery after surgery pathways and patient-centered time-outs. Under her leadership at Jackson South, the organization achieved 76% sepsis compliance, a 36% reduction in mortality index, a 33% reduction in surgical site infections and a 60% increase in palliative care consultations, alongside improved operating room first case on-time starts and expanded mortality case screening. At Jackson West, she drove 80% sepsis compliance, a 75% reduction in patient safety indicator 12 and an 80% reduction in surgical site infections, while achieving top system performance for operating first case on-time starts and increasing palliative care consultations by 53%. Her work also delivered a 100% increase in mortality cases screened by the quality team at both campuses, and exceeded inpatient and observation length of stay targets at Jackson West. Dr. Thompson has earned the Jackson Health System “Transformation Champion Award” and multiple Press Ganey distinctions, including the “Guardian of Excellence Award.” With a background in anesthesiology leadership and operational efficiency, she is also an educator and mentor through programs at the University of Miami and Nova University.

Seth Toomay, MD. Associate Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas). Dr. Toomay took over as UT Southwestern’s CMO in 2019 and ensures that the system maintains high-quality, consistent and uniform care. He specializes in vascular and interventional radiology. He provides clinical vascular and interventional radiology services at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Clements University Hospital and Zale Lipshy University Hospital, all located in Dallas. He has also played a significant role in the success of the overall UT Health Enterprise data, analytics and AI program, and serves as a key leader of the systemwide AI collaborative.

Vijay Trisal, MD. System Chief Clinical Officer at City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.). As system chief clinical officer, Dr. Trisal sets the vision and direction for systemwide quality and patient safety, develops guidelines for clinical pathways and protocols, creates physician leadership development models, and partners closely with each market’s chief clinical officer. He has helped guide City of Hope’s evolution from a regional Southern California cancer center into a fully integrated national system serving patients across five major metropolitan areas. He is described as a key clinical architect of integrating Cancer Treatment Centers of America locations in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix into “One City of Hope,” aligning them with shared standards, pathways and a patient-centered culture. One of his defining accomplishments was spearheading the implementation of “ConnectHope,” a unified EHR that replaced disparate systems and enabled clinical continuity, consistent benchmarking and joint tumor boards across markets. City of Hope facilitated several major 2025 openings aligned with his vision for localized access, including Orange County’s only cancer specialty hospital and Hope Plaza on the Los Angeles campus, the organization’s largest outpatient facility. Clinically, Dr. Trisal is a surgical oncologist focused on melanoma and sarcoma with deep expertise in immunotherapy advancements and breast cancer care.

Theodore “Ted” Tsangaris, MD. System Chief Medical Officer and Program Director for the Cancer Center for CalvertHealth (Prince Frederick, Md.). Dr. Tsangaris joined CalvertHealth as its chief medical officer and program director for the cancer center in 2019. As chief medical officer, he oversees the medical staff, offers clinical guidance and ensures compliance. Dr. Tsangaris brings over 30 years of clinical experience in oncology and is one of the region’s top breast cancer surgeons. In addition to his leadership roles, he is the co-author of over 50 peer-reviewed research articles, as well as a speaker, lecturer and consultant on breast cancer. 

Graham C. Tse, MD. Chief Medical Officer at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach (Calif.). Dr. Tse, a pediatric critical care specialist and a Los Angeles Business Journal top doctor, leads nearly 900 pediatric physicians in over 30 specialties in best practices for care, professionalism and high reliability. He championed successful efforts to unify the pediatric hospitalist program under a single clinical group, and was key to developing, implementing and maintaining the medical staff professionalism program. Among the accolades the hospital has earned during his tenure include “Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence” from Press Ganey for three consecutive years, “California Immunization-Friendly Birth Hospital Honor Roll” designation from EZIZ, “high performing” status in maternity care for three consecutive years according to U.S. News & World Report, and national ranking for its pediatric pulmonary program. Dr. Tse led efforts to make Miller Children’s a “Vaccine for Children’s” hospital to facilitate securing nirsevimab, which is an RSV monoclonal antibody. He helped create a one-stop specialty care facility, Cherese Mari Laulhere Children’s Village, the only facility of its kind in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Dr. Tse advocates for children’s and women’s health statewide and nationally, and is often quoted for his clinical expertise on the U.S. measles outbreak, the importance of vaccination in preventing serious illness in children, and the current viruses on the rise in Los Angeles County.

Meera Udayakumar, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs for UNC Health Rex (Raleigh) and UNC Health Rex Holly Springs Hospital. Dr. Udayakumar oversees medical staff affairs, quality programs, performance improvement and infection prevention at two UNC Health hospitals. Since joining UNC Health Rex in 2008, she has held several leadership roles, including medical director for UNC Health’s hospital at home program and medical director of quality and innovation for the Triangle East arm of UNC Health. Known for her expertise in patient safety and integrated care, Dr. Udayakumar has led initiatives that contributed to high national and regional rankings for UNC Health Rex in Raleigh and Holly Springs. 

Amit Uppal, MD. Chief Medical Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue (New York City). Dr. Uppal serves as chief medical officer of NYCHH/Bellevue, overseeing clinical operations, quality, patient safety, capacity management and strategic service planning at the nation’s oldest public hospital. He provides direct oversight of physician chiefs, advanced practice providers and social work teams, aligning interdisciplinary care delivery with regulatory standards and system priorities. A career Bellevue physician, Dr. Uppal previously served as chief quality officer, strengthening risk management, incident response and performance improvement infrastructure across the hospital. He has led longitudinal initiatives that positioned Bellevue among the highest-performing hospitals in New York State for sepsis care, while advancing airway safety and expanding critical care capacity. During Superstorm Sandy, he helped execute Bellevue’s first-ever hospital evacuation, and he later led preparedness and frontline response during the Ebola outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic, guiding critical care operations at both the hospital and system levels. Most recently, he has driven improvements in bed flow and throughput to expand access and operational efficiency in a high-acuity safety-net environment. An intensivist who continues to practice in the ICU and an associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. Uppal pairs crisis-tested leadership with sustained quality improvement to advance equitable care for New York City’s most diverse patient population.

James “JP” Valin, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City). Dr. Valin serves as chief clinical officer at Intermountain Health, leading clinical operations across 34 hospitals, more than 400 clinics, and over 4,800 employed physicians and advanced practice providers across a six-state region. He recently led the integration of nine EHR systems into a single enterprise Epic platform, coordinating a September 2025 go-live that transitioned more than 60,000 caregivers in what was described as Epic’s largest concurrent activation by user volume at the time. Under his leadership, the system achieved an overall 86th percentile ranking in Vizient’s quality and accountability study, with 16 hospitals recognized as top performers and 17 of 20 eligible hospitals earning “A” Leapfrog safety grades. Dr. Valin is a nationally recognized leader in advancing the proactive care model, aligning clinical incentives with patient priorities and affordability. His work implementing standardized care pathways contributed to a 63% reduction in opioid use through safer pain management approaches. He also expanded consistent behavioral health screening and intervention pathways, including in emergency and urgent care settings, supported by enhanced tracking of patient-reported outcomes. Dr. Valin became the system’s chief clinical officer in 2022 following the organization’s merger with SCL Health, where he previously served in the same role.

Gian Varbaro, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Ambulatory Services at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center (Paramus, N.J.). Dr. Varbaro brings more than two decades of healthcare experience to his role of chief medical officer and vice president of ambulatory services at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center. In his current position, he supports the hospital’s core service lines of acute care, behavioral health, long-term care and outpatient services. He also oversees operations of all ambulatory medical services. He is an expert in creating clinical operations, systems and business models that will enhance quality. He leads the medical staff and fosters innovation throughout the medical center. He is known for the turnaround of the 1,070-bed facility. 

Daniel Varga, MD. Chief Physician Executive and President of the Physician Services Division at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Varga serves as chief physician executive for Hackensack Meridian Health, overseeing the physician enterprise and the network’s patient safety and quality division across an 18-hospital system with more than 500 patient care locations, 38,000-plus team members and 7,000 physicians. His accountabilities include leading the 2,200-member employed physician enterprise, co-leading the 5,000-physician clinically integrated network, co-leading the care transformation services service lines, and overseeing system quality and patient safety functions including high-reliability initiatives, infection prevention, clinical process improvement, informatics and medical ethics. He is known for bringing disparate constituencies together around transparent, reliable, patient-centered care, with a composed leadership style suited to both crisis and complex change. Over the past year, he was a principal leader in external care-delivery partnerships designed to expand primary care access, including relationships with Amazon One Medical and K-Health, resulting in the launch of a new 24/7 virtual primary care service. He has advanced internal alignment and standardization through efforts such as rechartering the medical council committee, creating centralized credentialing, and convening 12 clinical disciplines to build regionally viable configurations that balance network quality goals and local community needs. His service line impact includes developing an integrated clinical strategic business model and a dyad leadership approach to drive standardized care plan models with accountability and credibility. His crisis leadership during Covid-19 led to the development of protocols and tiered ICU staffing models. He currently serves as an associate professor of medicine at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and holds leadership roles with the Leadership Institute’s physician executive forums.

David Vega, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for WellSpan Health (York, Pa.). Dr. Vega oversees clinical operations across WellSpan Health in his role as senior vice president and CMO. He has led various community accessibility initiatives aimed at expanding access, increasing patient satisfaction and improving overall wellbeing. Systemwide, he directs health equity and quality initiatives that help improve blood pressure control, breast cancer screening and colorectal cancer screenings. He also oversees the system’s new virtual approach to inpatient medical and surgical care. In addition, he was the physician lead for the $50 million emergency department renovation project at WellSpan York Hospital. Dr. Vega is a well published academic scholar and has served on the board of directors for the American Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, and Preferred Health Care. Currently, he serves on the Garden Spot Communities board of directors.

Ralph Velazquez, MD. Chief Medical Officer at OSF HealthCare (Peoria, Ill.). Dr. Velazquez was chief medical officer of OSF Health Plans for 13 years before transitioning to senior vice president of care management at OSF HealthCare in 2009. In 2017, he was appointed chief medical officer, a role where he leads the development of the system’s population health strategy, goals and programs. The initial aim is to improve quality, safety, and clinical performance and practice standards to achieve a CMS 5-star quality rating in ambulatory, home care and for every hospital by 2027. Dr. Velazquez supports nine clinical service lines, accountable care, care management services, quality, safety and risk, and credentialing verification organization across the system’s 18 inpatient clinics. He also oversees the “Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly,” which provides seniors the health and wellness support to remain independent. His leadership with accountable care at OSF resulted in ACO savings of more than $52 million in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, OSF saved $35 million over CMS benchmarks and earned a $25.9 million payback, while in 2023 it saved nearly $40 million and received $29.2 million. In 2024, it saved CMS $43.95 million and received a payback of $32.3 million. All paybacks are reinvested into patient care. In 2025, Dr. Velazquez championed modernization of medical staff bylaws across all facilities.

Salvatore Vella Jr., DO. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Foundation Medical Partners at Southern New Hampshire Health (Nashua). Dr. Vella serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Foundation Medical Partners, providing executive clinical leadership for a large multispecialty physician organization serving more than 120,000 patients. In this role, he oversees medical quality, patient safety and clinical performance, all while aligning physician practices with system goals and strengthening care coordination and policy development across the network. Since assuming the role in 2022, he has supported growth and workforce stability by recruiting more than 40 physicians to the organization. Dr. Vella maintains an active clinical practice as a physician and hospitalist, bringing frontline credibility to operational and engagement priorities. He also contributes to physician pipeline development through medical education, teaching learners from both the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the University of New England. His leadership includes service on the Foundation Medical Partners board of governors, supporting governance and strategic alignment across Southern New Hampshire Health. With recognitions such as New Hampshire Magazine “Top Doctors” spanning 2022–24, Dr. Vella combines clinical credibility, recruitment impact and teaching commitment to advance high-quality community-based care.

Sriram Vissa, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at SSM Health DePaul Hospital (Bridgeton, Mo.). Dr. Vissa is the senior physician leader for SSM Health DePaul Hospital, overseeing clinical performance, patient safety, quality outcomes, medical staff governance and regulatory readiness. He drives high-reliability care by translating performance insights from Vizient, CMS, Leapfrog and internal dashboards into focused improvement priorities across mortality, length of stay, hospital-acquired conditions, readmissions and patient flow. In 2025, the hospital achieved a 10% improvement in length of stay under his direction through stronger physician engagement, daily interdisciplinary rounds and streamlined throughput processes. The hospital also ranked No. 5 in safety in the Vizient quality and accountability study’s large complex medical center cohort, reflecting sustained harm-reduction and reliability gains. Dr. Vissa is recognized for clear, data-driven leadership that strengthens accountability and interdisciplinary teamwork across frontline clinicians and operational leaders. He previously served as interim president of the hospital from 2023 to 2024, as well as president of the medical staff and chief hospitalist, bringing rare continuity across clinical, operational and executive leadership.

Sowmya Viswanathan, MD. Chief Physician Executive at BayCare Health System (Clearwater, Fla.). Dr. Viswanathan serves as chief physician executive for BayCare Health System, overseeing physician enterprise operations across a $6.8 billion system with 16 hospitals and more than 7,000 physicians. She is responsible for hospital and ambulatory clinical operations, quality and patient safety, physician alignment, value-based care performance and the growth of BayCare Medical Group, which expanded from 560 to 1,400 physicians under her leadership. Her work in value-based care contributed to $41 million in CMS savings and $30.8 million in network shared savings, with more than $250 million recognized under risk-based contracts over five years and more than 300,000 covered lives managed. 11 of 12 qualifying BayCare hospitals earned Leapfrog “A” grades for patient safety, while physician engagement and alignment scores reached the 75th and 79th percentiles, respectively. She expanded graduate medical education from 20 residency positions in 2022 to more than 500 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved spots, launching 16 new programs and positioning the system for continued growth. Dr. Viswanathan also advanced adoption of AI-enabled documentation, stroke detection and digital navigation tools to enhance efficiency and outcomes. In addition, she launched physician wellbeing initiatives that contributed to the system earning the American Medical Association’s bronze “Joy in Medicine” recognition.

Renuga Vivekanandan, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for CHI Health Clinic Physician Enterprise’s Midwest Market (Omaha, Neb.). Dr. Vivekanandan leads the clinical and operational performance of a multi-state ambulatory enterprise spanning more than 180 clinics, over 60 specialties, and 1,800 physicians and advanced practice providers, aligning clinical strategy with growth and service line performance. In her academic role, she integrates clinical and teaching missions by enhancing physician and advanced practice provider engagement in education, strengthening program quality, and developing rural residency programs to address workforce shortages. She sponsors and leads enterprise programs including a cardiometabolic center of excellence, a pulmonary nodule program, and tele-antimicrobial stewardship and tele-infectious disease services to expand access, especially in rural and underserved communities. The enterprise reports measurable workforce and culture results over the past 12 months, including clinician engagement rising to 4.21, resilience increasing from 50% to 74%, physician turnover dropping to 7% and advanced practice provider turnover to 8%, with work-related strain decreasing from over 300 providers to about 50. She is also credited with optimizing service lines across more than a dozen specialties, with long-standing dedication to advancing women in medicine through leadership roles. Dr. Vivekanandan is also a practicing infectious disease physician and tenured professor.

Michael Weiner, DO. Chief Medical Officer for Michigan State University Health Care (East Lansing). Dr. Weiner was named MSU Health Care’s chief medical officer in February 2023. Since then, he has contributed greatly to the system’s success by creating a cohesive team, notably improving care quality with evidence-based practices and patient-centered care, spearheading the system’s primary care task force, standardizing care metrics and patient panels, pioneering an opioid-free initiative, implementing dyad leadership models, driving EHR optimization and much more. Immediately prior to joining MSU Health Care, Dr. Weiner served as chief medical officer for Maximus, a government services company aiming for more accessible and affordable care.  

Andrew Weinfeld, MD. Chief Clinical Officer for AdventHealth East Florida Division (Altamonte Springs, Fla.). Dr. Weinfeld oversees clinical strategy, quality, patient safety and physician alignment across a seven-hospital division. Under his leadership, the division has reduced unnecessary clinical variation and improved throughput, including an approximately 12% reduction in average length of stay, while sustaining strong performance in safety and patient experience. The division has also achieved meaningful reductions in hospital-acquired infections, including central line-associated bloodstream infection, catheter-associated urinary tract infection and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, reflecting a focus on evidence-based practices and reliable clinical processes. Dr. Weinfeld brings prior experience as a practicing general surgeon and has previously served in chief medical officer roles within Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare.

Robert Weir, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Fairfax Behavioral Health (Kirkland, Wash.). As chief medical officer of Fairfax Behavioral Health System, Dr. Weir oversees clinical operations across three inpatient campuses and a growing outpatient network. He leads the medical staff and holds primary responsibility for patient safety and quality, medical education, utilization review and community outreach, while serving as a voting member of the medical executive committee and sitting on the governing board. Dr. Weir leverages his uncommon dual board certification in neurology and psychiatry to bridge medical and behavioral complexity, revamping inpatient admission criteria and personally providing neurologic consultation for complex cases that previously required external referral. In his first year, the system increased main campus census by 13% while reducing patient aggression rates to a two-year low. He partnered with quality leadership to deploy a validated outcomes instrument and nearly doubled completion rates versus the prior measure. 92% of patients now show clinically significant improvement on the brief psychiatric rating scale during their stay. Operationally, he opened two new inpatient units, one designed for vulnerable adults and one for adolescent males, addressing historically underserved populations in Washington State. He also expanded outpatient access, including telemedicine for rural communities, and led digital transformation efforts across billing automation and workforce management systems. Beyond the system, he was appointed by the Washington State Legislature to a task force, serves on the executive committee of the American Psychiatric Association’s climate change and mental health caucus, and holds the rank of Major in the U.S. Army Reserve. 

Elizabeth “Beth” Wells, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer and Physician-in-Chief at Children’s National Hospital (Washington, D.C.). Dr. Wells provides enterprisewide leadership for clinical strategy, quality and safety and care delivery at Children’s National, guiding multidisciplinary teams across five centers of excellence, general pediatrics and multiple institutes representing approximately 3,000 employees. She integrates clinical operations with research and education to translate discovery into practice and improve outcomes for highly complex pediatric populations. Previously, as senior vice president of the hospital’s neuroscience and behavioral medicine center, Dr. Wells expanded programmatic reach and research impact across destination programs in brain injury, neurologic disorders, mental and behavioral health, and neurodevelopmental conditions. She has held key physician governance roles, including president of the medical staff and chair of the credentials committee, strengthening professional standards and accountability. A professor in pediatrics, neurology and rehabilitation medicine with advanced clinical research training, she is recognized for breaking down silos and building integrated, high-reliability services. Dr. Wells also serves on the board of Pediatric Specialists of Virginia and brings additional community leadership through regional and specialty society roles.

Pam Wetzel, MD. Chief Medical Officer at UnityPoint Health–Meriter (Madison, Wisc.). Dr. Wetzel is responsible for the oversight of clinical quality, patient satisfaction and safety strategies, and medical staff relations. She serves as a key aide in the developments in care delivery and outcomes across UnityPoint’s locations in Wisconsin, Iowa and western Illinois. She also oversees provider credentialing and acts as the primary liaison between Meriter medical staff members and administration, as well as the larger provider community in South-Central Wisconsin. Dr. Wetzel has a significant hand in the joint operating agreement with Madison, Wis.-based UW Health, working with cross-functional teams to increase access and improve local community health. 

Andrew J. White, MD. Chief Medical Officer for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital (St. Louis). Dr. White serves as the chief medical officer and pediatrician-in-chief at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, where he oversees patient care, education, research and community engagement. His leadership has significantly improved the hospital’s U.S. News & World Report rankings, making it the highest-ranked Catholic children’s hospital in the nation. An international expert in pediatric hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, Dr. White provides specialized care to children nationwide. He has trained nearly 1,000 pediatricians and subspecialists during his 20 years as a residency director and authored several medical books. 

Michael White, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Valleywise Health (Phoenix). Dr. White has served as executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Valleywise Health since 2019, advancing the system’s mission to improve clinical outcomes, enhance patient experience and grow key programs. He led the successful transition of more than 200 patients from the legacy county hospital to the new Valleywise Health Medical Center in a single day, a complex operational milestone. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he helped guide the organization through significant disruptions as the hospital managed surges of critically ill patients. In 2025, he championed Proposition 409, an $898 million bond package approved by voters to expand behavioral health bed capacity and emergency services, serving as a chief spokesperson for the initiative. Under his leadership, the system earned its first “A” Leapfrog patient safety rating while experiencing record patient volumes, marking a significant turnaround from prior lower safety grades. A practicing interventional cardiologist, Dr. White also serves as associate dean at the Creighton University School of Medicine and as chairman of the Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance, supporting physician workforce development in Arizona.

Andrew Williams, MD. Chief Medical Officer for the St. Lawrence Region at Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health. Dr. Williams provides clinical leadership across community-based and regional settings, aligning medical strategy with population health priorities to expand access and culturally responsive care in rural communities. In addition to his regional role, he serves as chief medical officer of Community Health Center of the North Country in Canton, N.Y., associate chief medical officer at St. Lawrence Health in Potsdam, N.Y., and president of the St. Lawrence County board of health, integrating public health and clinical strategy across the county. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Williams delivered tailored public health education to the Amish community, bridging cultural gaps and strengthening trust during a period of heightened risk. He was named a 2021 “Community Health Hero” by the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization and North Country Health Compass Partners, recognizing his sustained impact on rural health. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Williams also maintains an active clinical practice and serves as assistant clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, mentoring future physicians. 

Judith Wolfe, MD. Chief Medical Officer of UH St. John Medical Center (Westlake, Ohio). Dr. Wolfe is chief medical officer of UH St. John Medical Center, where she oversees clinical operations and sets standards for patient safety, quality, experience and regulatory readiness across a 190-bed community hospital. She works closely with physicians, nursing and senior leadership to improve throughput, reduce complications, and foster a culture of professionalism and psychological safety. Since assuming the role, she has led initiatives that significantly reduced observation hours, improved sepsis and stroke performance, and strengthened discharge efficiency and team engagement. Her leadership has supported “Gold Plus Stroke Center” recognition from the American Heart/Stroke Association, sustained trauma certification, and measurable gains in physician communication and engagement scores. She remains clinically active in the emergency department, mentoring residents and advanced practice providers while reinforcing bedside-centered leadership. Previously serving in senior experience and emergency leadership roles at Cleveland Clinic, she is recognized for driving culture change that prioritizes high-value care, accountability and a strong “patients first” philosophy.

Geralda Xavier, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Health Newton (N.J.) and Hackettstown (N.J.) Medical Centers. Dr. Xavier serves as chief medical officer for Atlantic Health’s Newton and Hackettstown Medical Centers, advancing physician engagement, integration and alignment across employed and community medical staff. She oversees quality and patient safety initiatives at both hospitals, partnering with leadership to strengthen clinical performance and operational effectiveness. With more than 20 years of experience, she is known for championing structured process improvement, team engagement and psychological safety across disciplines. She led strategy development and implementation to enhance critical care provider coverage in both ICUs, contributing to improved ICU outcomes and Leapfrog safety ratings. As leader of the capacity management steering committee, she has improved patient throughput and operational efficiency. She has also guided comprehensive quality improvement efforts, reinforcing structured approaches to performance management. Prior to joining Atlantic Health, Dr. Xavier served as chief quality officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she implemented multiple successful initiatives.

Ralph Yates, DO. System Chief Medical Officer of Salem (Ore.) Health Hospitals and Clinics. Dr. Yates is a physician executive specializing in family medicine and sports medicine. He serves as CMO of Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics. He brings over 40 years of experience in medicine. 

Donald Yealy, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Health Services for UPMC (Pittsburgh). Dr. Yealy is chief medical officer for UPMC. He frequently collaborates with local, state and federal officials to raise awareness of topics and address issues impacting healthcare and medical policy in the communities UPMC serves. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, he served as a primary expert media spokesperson for UPMC by consistently addressing the institution’s preparedness and response to the public health crisis, leading press conferences and participating in countless media interviews.

George Yoo, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Karmanos Cancer Hospital (Detroit). Dr. Yoo has served as chief medical officer at Karmanos Cancer Hospital since 2008. He manages the group’s annual budget, oversees Karmanos’ comprehensive medical operations and spearheads strategic initiatives. Dr. Yoo is a pivotal senior executive team member, managing medical directors, multidisciplinary teams of specialists and the entire medical staff. He is also active in numerous Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Wayne State University committees, many of which he holds board positions. Dr. Yoo contributes to academia at the WSU School of Medicine, as well as clinical research. He also helps with securing investigational funds for cancer care development. He joined the faculty at WSU in 1996. He has significantly contributed to the WSU department of oncology through his teaching and mentoring. As a clinical scientist, Dr. Yoo managed a National Institute of Health-funded laboratory, securing $2 million in grant support, which resulted in the publication of over 70 peer-reviewed articles.

David C. Yu, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Manning Family Children’s (New Orleans). Dr. Yu serves as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Louisiana’s only freestanding comprehensive children’s hospital, overseeing quality, patient safety, medical staff governance and clinical performance across pediatric inpatient, outpatient and specialty services. A board-certified pediatric general surgeon with 25 years at the organization, he has helped shape the growth of multidisciplinary programs including trauma, burn and wound care, and has played a leading role in advancing the hospital’s level 2 pediatric trauma center, which is the only one of its kind in the region. He oversees credentialing, peer review and professional practice evaluation while partnering with nursing and operational leaders to align clinical excellence with strategic priorities across complex service lines such as surgery and perioperative care. Dr. Yu has served in nearly every major medical staff leadership role, including chief of surgery and medical staff president, building durable physician alignment and shared ownership of quality and safety outcomes. He is also a key academic leader, serving as program director for Tulane University’s general surgery residency program and previously as associate program director for Louisiana State University’s surgery residency program, reinforcing the hospital’s role as a premier training site. 

Michael Yurkanin, MD. Chief Physician Executive for Parkview Health Hospitals (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Dr. Yurkanin is chief medical officer for Parkview Health Hospitals. He leads key initiatives in quality and safety, particularly focusing on Parkview’s two largest hospitals in Fort Wayne. He collaborates with patient advocacy teams to ensure high-quality care and coordinates clinical strategies with financial and HR teams to guide decision-making across the system. He has provided critical leadership on several major projects, including the $45 million renovation of Parkview Behavioral Health, the development of the Parkview Southwest Outpatient Center, and the integration of newly affiliated hospitals in Ohio into the Parkview system. His efforts are helping to expand the network’s regional care coordination.

Zan Zaidi, MD. Chief Medical Officer for UVA Community Health (Manassas, Va.). Dr. Zaidi serves as chief medical officer for three Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health community medical centers in northern and central Virginia, providing executive leadership for clinical strategy, quality, patient safety and physician alignment across hospitals. Together, the three hospitals generate nearly $700 million in annual revenue, and serve more than 115,000 emergency department visits and 2,500 deliveries each year. He led clinical integration following UVA Health’s 2021 acquisition of the community hospitals, standardizing clinical pathways, specialty coverage models and performance expectations while preserving local access and culture. Under his leadership, the community hospitals became perennial Leapfrog “A” recipients, with multiple sites achieving more than 10 consecutive “A” cycles, and the network earned U.S. News & World Report recognitions including top-tier heart attack care and “high performing” designations in maternity care. Dr. Zaidi’s team nearly tripled the employed community provider group and added more than 100 providers in the past three years, expanding access during a national workforce shortage and strengthening specialty care in areas such as cardiology, oncology, urology, surgical subspecialties and anesthesia. He also launched UVA Health’s first community-based clinical trials, extending research infrastructure beyond the academic flagship to rural and suburban populations.

Richard Zane, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at UCHealth (Aurora, Colo.). Dr. Zane serves as UCHealth’s chief medical officer and chief innovation officer, overseeing clinical, quality and safety programs across a Colorado nonprofit health system with 15 hospitals and hundreds of clinics. In partnership with operational leaders, the University of Colorado School of Medicine and UCHealth Medical Group, he helps drive exceptional care delivery and continuous innovation at scale. He expanded UCHealth’s virtual infrastructure to include services such as virtual primary care with same-day appointment access and virtual hospitalist support for critical access hospitals, alongside broad virtual programs spanning critical care, emergency and urgent care, nursing, respiratory therapy, surveillance and prevention initiatives. He is credited with advancing AI-enabled early detection capabilities, with more than 1,100 patients each year leaving UCHealth facilities who otherwise wouldn’t have due to algorithms detecting sepsis, deterioration, stroke and early-stage cancers. He also elevated UCHealth’s pharmacogenomics program into the nation’s largest, impacting more than 73,400 patients and returning over one million drug-gene indicators to guide medication selection, dosing and side-effect risk. Across operational improvements, he leveraged advanced AI and administrative automation to achieve a financial impact of $5.7 million in cost savings and an additional $3.3 million in contribution margin.

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