The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown unprecedented challenges at hospital COOs, from supply chain woes to the need for strategic changes. Below are brief biographies of the COOs of eight hospitals on the U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 best hospital rankings.
1. Bill Peacock, Cleveland Clinic
Since 2009, Mr. Peacock has served as Cleveland Clinic's chief of operations, making him responsible for the supply chain, clinical engineering and the clinic's buildings and property, among other duties. Before joining the system, he spent 24 years in the Navy as a captain in the Civil Engineer Corps.
2. Richard Azar, UCLA Hospital System
Mr. Azar assumed his role in February 2018. As COO for UCLA Health, he is responsible for hospital operations, clinical service lines, hospital-based clinics and ancillary support services. He has been with the system for nearly 16 years.
3. Charles Reuland, PhD, Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore)
Dr. Reuland serves as executive vice president and COO of Johns Hopkins and has been in the position since 2016. His responsibilities include overseeing all clinical departments, ambulatory operations, and laboratory and imaging services.
4. Ron M. Walls, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston)
Dr. Walls oversees all clinical services across the Mass General Brigham system, including the academic medical centers, specialty hospitals, community hospitals and ambulatory services in his role as COO. He's been with the system since 1993.
5. Laura L. Forese, MD, NewYork-Presbyterian(New York City)
Dr. Forese joined the system in 2003 and now serves as executive vice president and COO. She is responsible for driving the system toward its operating targets and implementing strategic vision and culture across the health system.
6. Bryan Croft, Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles)
Mr. Croft leads the day-to-day operations of Cedars-Sinai, overseeing all service lines and clinical support services. He has been COO since 2017, having joined Cedars-Sinai in 2010.
7. Fritz François, MD, NYU Langone (New York City)
Dr. François serves as executive vice president and vice dean as well as chief of hospital operations for the healthy system. He oversees all patient care activity on the Manhattan campus of NYU Langone Health.
8. Sheila Antrum, UCSF Health Medical Center (San Francisco)
Ms. Antrum is senior vice president and chief operating officer at UCSF Health and has been with the system for more than two decades. She oversees strategic implementation of affiliations, finances, quality and safety for adult patient services alongside having responsibilities for operations in children's and cancer services.
Editor's note: This artice was updated March 3.