Individuals who serve as chief strategy officer for hospitals or health systems are responsible for leading business development, strategic planning and organizational planning and transformation.
Here are 29 CSOs to know. This list was compiled based on public solicitation of nominations and editorial review. Please contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com with any questions or comments.
Karim Botros. Vice President and CSO of MetroHealth (Cleveland). Mr. Botros is the CSO for The MetroHealth System overseeing business and corporate development, provider recruiting, integration as well as planning and market research. In addition, Mr. Botros is the co-leader of the Adult Care and Wellness Service Line overseeing approximately 250 providers across hospital medicine, adult care, geriatrics, behavioral health and dental care. Prior to joining MetroHealth, Mr. Botros was a member of the Cleveland Clinic's Emerging Businesses group and oversaw corporate development. Between 1999 and 2008, he worked in private equity, acquiring companies within the health IT and business service industries at The Riverside Company and The Jordan Company. He received his MBA from Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and his master's in manufacturing engineering management and his BS in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University.
James M. Blazar. CSO and Executive Vice President of Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Mr. Blazar was named to his current role with Hackensack UHN in January 2016 after serving as the senior vice president and chief strategy and transformation officer at Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare. He previously served as president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic Canada in Toronto. In his new role, he is responsible for regional strategic network growth through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and creative partnerships.
Robert Campbell. Senior Vice President of Business Development and CSO of Phoenix Children's Hospital. In his current role, Mr. Campbell is responsible for business development, strategic planning, clinically integrated network development, service line planning and marketing and communications. Prior to joining Phoenix Children's Hospital, he spent time as the CSO for the Arizona Region of Dignity Health and he played a leadership role in the $192 million development of the Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Phoenix.
Trisha Cassidy. AMITA Health (Arlington Heights, Ill.). Ms. Cassidy was appointed to the newly created CSO position for Alexian Brothers Health System in May 2012. She assumed responsibilities as CSO when ABHS entered into a joint operating agreement with Adventist Midwest Health to form AMITA Health in 2015. She is responsible for developing, communicating, implementing and evaluating strategies for the system's nine acute care and specialty hospitals. She previously spent 22 years with Loyola University Health System and was interim president of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.
Zach Chandler. Executive Vice President and CSO of Baptist Memorial Health Care (Memphis, Tenn.). Mr. Chandler has been with Baptist for 15 years and held leadership roles within the organization including CEO and administrator at four Baptist Memorial hospitals. His previous experience at Baptist includes time as vice president and head of metro-Memphis operations. Mr. Chandler earned the American College of Health care Executives' Early Career Healthcare Executive Award.
Jackie Crain, JD, MBA. Vice President and CSO of All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). Ms. Crain was promoted to her current position, a new position for the hospital, in November 2014. She leads strategic business services, including strategic planning and business development initiatives for the hospital and All Children's Health System entities. Her background is in oversight for legal affairs, corporate governance, risk management, HIPAA and more.
Michael Dallman, MBA. Senior Vice President and CSO of UW Health and President of University Health Care/UW Health Regional Division (Madison, Wis.). Mr. Dallman joined UW Health as vice president for regional development on Jan. 1, 2005, and assumed the CSO position for UW Health on July 11, 2016. In his CSO role, Mr. Dallman leads the organization's strategic planning process for long-term success. He has previous experience as executive director of the WI Valley Health Network.
Emme Deland, MBA. Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian. Ms. Deland is responsible for developing clinical and corporate strategies for the NYP — a $7 billion, 4,000-bed academic healthcare delivery system in the New York Metropolitan area — and leads NYP's Venture Fund. She serves on the board of the NewYork-Presbyterian Health Policy Center. Ms. Deland joined NewYork-Presbyterian in 2000 after spending time at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. NYP is affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical School and Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Charlie Francis. Senior Executive Vice President and CSO of Dignity Health (San Francisco). In this role, Mr. Francis is responsible for Dignity Health's strategic direction, market position and public policy initiatives. He has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare strategy, business development and consulting fields. He joined Dignity Health in 2001 — known as Catholic Healthcare West at the time — and has previous experience as senior vice president of business development at Advocate Health Care in Oak Brook, Ill.
Christine Gallery, JD. Senior Vice President, Planning and CSO of Emerson Hospital (Concord, Mass.). Ms. Gallery is in charge of development programs for the hospital service's continued growth. She leads the strategic planning and business development efforts, directs the hospital's marketing strategy and oversees physician recruitment and relationships. She is immediate past president for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.
Dana Gilbert. Chief Strategy and Population Health Officer of Presence Health (Chicago). In his current role, Mr. Gilbert leads business development and growth activities for Presence Health. He is responsible for designing strategies to improve access to care while managing costs. Mr. Gilbert has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, spending 15 years with Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based Advocate Physician Partners in various roles, including COO where he planned and implemented value-based agreements.
Ann Huston. CSO of Cleveland Clinic. Ms. Huston joined Cleveland Clinic in 2012 as CSO, a newly created role. She has more than 25 years of experience in senior executive leadership and consulting roles with physician groups, hospitals and academic health centers. She was previously a partner at Ernst & Young's national healthcare strategy practice and president of an independent healthcare consultancy.
Lara Khouri, MBA. Senior Vice President and CSO of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Children's Hospital Los Angeles Medical Group. In her current role, Ms. Khouri works with the hospital and physicians to develop systems of care. She is responsible for performance management of the hospital's primary care and community provider network and associated governance structures. She has previous experience as executive director of the Boston Children's Hospital Integrated Care Organization.
Diane Laird. CSO of MemorialCare Health System (Fountain Valley, Calif.). Ms. Laird is responsible for the entire continuum of care strategy for MemorialCare Health System, a nonprofit integrated delivery system with five hospitals and more than 200 care sites across Los Angeles and Orange Counties. She is also CEO of Greater Newport Physicians, part of MemorialCare Medical Foundation. Since Greater Newport Physicians joined MemorialCare in 2012, the practice has doubled its physician network.
Carol A. Lovin. Executive Vice President and CSO of Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, N.C.). Ms. Lovin is responsible for strategy development and deployment at Carolinas HealthCare System. She joined the health system in 2007 after serving as executive vice president of planning and communications and president of the CHS Management Company.
Gail Marsh. CSO and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center (Columbus). Ms. Marsh has experience leading the development and execution of medical center's strategic plan, taking the center from a $500 million enterprise to a $2 billion organization. She received a Central Ohio Women of Achievement award in 2012.
Tom Martin. Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and Information Officer at EvergreenHealth (Kirkland, Wash.). Mr. Martin is responsible for information technology, strategic planning, business and relationship development and operational excellence at EvergreenHealth. He joined EvergreenHealth in 2006 after serving as CIO for all UW Medicine organizations.
Dominic Moffa. Geisinger Health System (Danville, Pa.). Mr. Moffa was named Geisinger's executive vice president and CSO in June after spending time as senior vice president of administration and executive vice president at Geisinger affiliate AtlantiCare in Atlantic City, N.J. He has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare and was instrumental in AtlantiCare earning the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in 2009.
David Morales. Executive Vice President and CSO of Steward Health Care System (Boston). Mr. Morales was commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, the state's Medicaid rate-setting and healthcare policy office, before taking on the CSO role at Steward Health in 2011. He partners with Steward Health's CEO to integrate the company's strategic goals and he leads the system's strategic business solutions group.
Caitlin Hillary Moulding. CSO of Overlake Medical Center (Bellevue, Wash.). Ms. Moulding joined Overlake in 2003. She has more than 16 years of healthcare experience in strategic planning, development and marketing. Her past experience includes time consulting with ECG Management Consultants in Seattle. She serves on the Bellevue Downtown Association board of directors.
Lisa Ozaeta, DrPH, JD, MBA. Senior Vice President and CSO of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland (Calif.). Before joining Children's Hospital Oakland, Dr. Ozaeta was the COO of Packard Children's Health Alliance, a medical network serving the Bay Area, and president and co-managing director of Healthcare Partners Investments in Oklahoma. She also has experience as a senior manager with ECG Management Consultants and has more than 18 years of senior management experience.
Pete Perialas. Senior Vice President, Population Health and CSO of Children's Medical Center of Dallas. Mr. Perialas joined Children's Health in 2015 and heads the system's strategic activities for developing, deploying and extending technological and operational capabilities, focused on population health and value-based care. He has previous experience as CEO of a federally qualified health center that achieved Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home Status.
Roger Poitras. CSO for the Gulf Coast of Sacred Heart Health System (Pensacola, Fla.). Mr. Poitras was named CSO for the Gulf Coast on May 4, 2016. In his new role he leads the hospital's efforts to provide high-quality, low cost, person-centered care through partnerships and formulating growth strategies. His previous role with the organization includes president of Sacred Heart Medical Group.
Tom Richardson. CSO and Vice President of Marketing and Communications of Connecticut Children's Medical Center (Hartford). Mr. Richardson is responsible for strategic planning, enterprise project management and marketing analytics for Connecticut Children's Medical Center. He has previous experience as vice president of strategic planning and director of academic administration, grants and sponsored programs at Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
Kim Roberts. Stanford Children's Health & Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto,Calif.). Ms. Roberts is the Chief Administrative Officer of Physician Practices, CSO and CEO of Packard Children's Health Alliance, a medical network serving the Bay Area. She previously spent 13 years with the $1.5 billion Santa Clara Health and Hospital System as CFO and CEO.
Maria L. Royce. Senior Vice President, Strategy and Market Development and CSO of WellSpan Health (York, Pa.). Ms. Royce joined WellSpan in 1992 as director of public and corporate relations and rose to her current role. She now provides leadership for WellSpan's strategic and operational planning, community health improvement, philanthropy, marketing, communications and community partnerships.
Amber Sims. CSO of Saint Thomas Health (Nashville, Tenn.). Ascension's Saint Thomas Health named Ms. Sims CSO in 2015. She began her career with Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital as an administrative resident and worked her way up to positions of increasing responsibility, including director of clinical support and services. She was named the vice president of Saint Thomas Health Alliance in 2013 and led the organization through growth and alignment with strategic partners.
Jenni Vargas. CSO of Stanford Health Care (Palo Alto, Calif.). Ms. Vargas became Stanford Health's CSO in 2007. She previously spent eight years as a healthcare delivery officer at Health Net in Oakland, Calif., and was vice president and general manager of Cigna for 10 years.
Matthew Weiss, MD. CSO of South Shore Health System (Weymouth, Mass.). Dr. Weiss is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician by training. He accepted the CSO position in April 2016 after previously serving as chief of the division of hospital medicine and vice chairman of the department of critical care at South Shore Health System.
*Ex-Consultants Agency contributed to the formation of this list. Ex-Consultants Agency works with Chief Strategy Officers across a range of industries including healthcare, to place top-tier consultants in to full-time and project based roles (www.exconsultantsagency.com).