Suresh Gunasekaran has been appointed president and CEO of UCSF Health, effective March 1.
He succeeds Mark Laret, who retired Dec. 31, after leading the San Francisco health system for 21 years.
Mr. Gunasekaran, who has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare leadership and information technology, currently serves as the CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and the senior associate vice president for University of Iowa Health Care.
Throughout his tenure, which began in November 2018, Mr. Gunasekaran spoke openly about the Iowa City-based health system's need to increase capacity, and led several quality enhancement and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
In his new role, Mr. Gunasekaran will earn a base salary of $1.8 million which falls between the 75th and 90th percentile of salaries for chief executives of academic medical centers nationwide, according to a Jan. 18 news release.