Hospital CIOs are charged with maintaining a complex IT system, data platform, virtual care and many other responsibilities that help organizations achieve their strategic goals.
The role is especially important at community hospitals where organizations treat a large patient geography oftentimes with fewer resources than urban institutions. Below is a list of 64 community hospital CIOs who have made a positive impact on their organizations and have their sights set on future growth.
Contact Randi Haseman at rhaseman@beckershealthcare.com to recommend a leader for this list. To learn more about the information industry and engage in lively debate about the future, join us at Becker's 7th Annual Health IT and Revenue Cycle Management Conference in October - register here.
David Stuller. CIO at Shenandoah Community Health (Martinsburg, W.Va.). Mr. Stuller sits on an executive leadership team with six other executives at Shenandoah Community Health. Shenandoah Community Health is one of 31 community health centers in West Virginia.
Johnathan Buice. CIO at Upson Regional Medical Center (Thomaston, Ga.). Mr. Buice began as a PC hardware technician at Upson Regional Medical Center in 2003. Since 2016, he has held the role of CIO, overseeing the hospital's IT department and functions.
Jeffrey Yamada. CIO at Kittitas Valley Healthcare (Ellensburg, Wash.). Mr. Yamada is originally from Hawaii and always planned to return after completing his undergraduate degree in Idaho. Yet when August rolls around, Mr. Yamada will celebrate his 40th year working in Washington hospitals. He is currently CIO at Kittitas Valley Healthcare, where he is responsible for IT operations and digital technology support.
Ken Woodward. CIO at Boone Hospital Center (Columbia, Miss.). Mr. Woodward has over 30 years of IT experience and began working at Boone Hospital Center in 1993. He led the implementation for Boone Hospital Center's first EHR.
Linda Stevenson. CIO at Fisher-Titus Medical Center (Norwalk, Ohio). Ms. Stevenson has supported all areas of the hospital from clinical to revenue cycle since 2019 when she joined Fisher-Titus. She's also the former owner of a yoga studio in Brunswick, Ohio, where she continues to teach classes and lead workshops.
Christopher Plaisance, PhD. CIO and Business Intelligence Director at Black River Memorial Hospital (Black RIver Falls, Wis.). Mr. Plaisance's background includes information technology, electronics, engineering, business methods, process improvement, healthcare systems and administration. Prior to joining Black River Memorial Hospital in 2016, Mr. Plaisance served as executive director and CIO at Gibson City, Ill.-based Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services.
Tim Conroy. CIO at Cary Medical Center (Caribou, Maine). Mr. Conroy grew up in Caribou and is now leading the IT department at Cary Medical Center. He joined Cary Medical Center in 2020 after a career in leadership positions at Eastern Maine Community College.
Erick Schrier. CIO at Door County Medical Center (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.). Mr. Schrier began as CIO for Door County Medical Center in June 2019. Three years later, he was named a corporate finalist for the Wisconsin CIO ORBIE Awards. He continues to lead the hospital's IT functions and strategic operations.
Kevin Olson. Vice President and CIO at Jupiter Medical Center (Jupiter, Fla.). Mr. Olson joined Jupiter Medical Center in 2021. Prior to that, he served as CIO at Oklahoma City-based OU Health System, the largest academic hospital health system in Oklahoma.
Fred Banner. CIO at Shore Medical Center (Somers Point, N.J.). Mr. Banner's status as a former U.S. Air Force member impacts his work as Shore's CIO. He honors veterans by planting 1,200 flags on the lawn for Veteran's Day and organizing employees and visitors for Independence Day.
Sallie Arnett. Vice President of Information Systems at Licking Memorial Health Systems (Newark, Ohio). Ms. Arnett has 20 years of experience as a healthcare CIO. During her tenure at Licking Memorial Health Systems, the system's flagship facility, Licking Memorial Hospital, reached stage 6 on the HIMSS EMR Adoption Model and was named a CHIME Most Wired facility. Ms. Arnett is a CHIME-certified healthcare CIO and a member of the Imprivata Customer Advisory Board.
Pam Banchy, RN. CIO and Vice President of Clinical Informatics and Transformation at Western Reserve Hospital (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio). Ms. Banchy has 35 years of healthcare experience, 25 of which have been in the IT arena. During her tenure as Western Reserve Hospital's CIO, the hospital received the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction three years in a row. Prior to her current role, she was system director of clinical information systems for Summa Health in Akron, Ohio.
Bill Bollinger. CIO of Carroll County Memorial Hospital (Carrollton, Mo.). Mr. Bollinger has 39-plus years of IT and management experience, becoming the hospital's full-time CIO in 2016. Prior to that, he was an IT consultant and temporary CIO and helped the hospital convert to an EMR system in 2010. The hospital received the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction in 2017, and it made medical information available to patients through Apple's iPhone health records app last year.
Jim Boyer. CIO and Executive Vice President of Information Technology & Health Care Informatics Consultant of Rush Memorial Hospital (Rushville, Ind.). Mr. Boyer has served as vice president of IT and CIO of Rush Memorial Hospital since 2002, overseeing IT implementation, interoperability and clinical informatics, among other areas. He has led two successful health information system/EMR conversion projects as CIO. The hospital has earned HIMSS Analytics stage 6 recognition, and in 2018, it received the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction for the sixth consecutive year.
Angela Burgess. CIO of Randolph Health (Asheboro, N.C.). Ms. Burgess has served as CIO of Randolph Health since 2008, and she is a member of HIMSS and CHIME. During her tenure, the hospital implemented a single sign-on solution that enables employees to enter one password to sign into multiple systems and applications. The hospital also achieved HIMSS stage 6 recognition during Ms. Burgess' time as CIO.
Bart Butzine. CIO of Community Hospital (Grand Junction, Colo.). Since 2015, Mr. Butzine has served as the CIO of Community Hospital, a 60-bed facility that recorded about 7,700 inpatient days in 2018. Prior to joining Community Hospital, Mr. Butzine spent eight years as the IT director of customer relations at Phoenix-based Banner Health, a 28-hospital nonprofit health system.
Scott Carlson. Director of Information Systems at Mary Greeley Medical Center (Ames, Iowa). For the past 33 years, Mr. Carlson has served as the director of information systems at Mary Greeley Medical Center, a 220-bed hospital with about 1,300 employees. Under Mr. Carlson's leadership, Mary Greeley Medical Center received the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year.
David Danhauer, MD. System Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer of Owensboro (Ky.) Health. Dr. Danhauer is vice president and CMIO of nonprofit Owensboro Health, a system staffed by roughly 4,000 employees who serve patients in Kentucky and Indiana. In 2016, Dr. Danhauer was named chair of the physician committee for HIMSS, and during his year at the post he led initiatives to improve healthcare on a national level through IT.
Tracy Donegan. Chief Information and Innovation Officer of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (Los Angeles). Ms. Donegan has 20-plus years of healthcare experience and previously served as assistant vice president of Cognizant's healthcare provider consulting practice. As chief information and innovation officer at MLKCH, she drives technological advancements and led the hospital to achieving HIMSS stage 7 validation for EHR use.
Jake Dorst. Chief Information and Innovation Officer at Tahoe Forest Health System (Truckee, Calif.). Mr. Dorst is the chief information and innovation officer at Tahoe Forest Health System, which houses 25 acute care beds and 36 long-term care beds. Under Mr. Dorst's leadership, Tahoe Forest Health System successfully transitioned to a single EHR platform and modernized its patient care infrastructure to become a mobile-first network.
Craig Doyle. Vice President and CIO of St. Tammany Health System (Covington, La.). Since 2012, Mr. Doyle has led IT operations as the director of information systems for St. Tammany Health System, where he also holds the role of vice president. Prior to his current position, Mr. Doyle was the division CIO for Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare's Delta Division and is also a member of HIMSS.
Vishnu Duvuuru. Regional IT Director of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center (San Diego). Mr. Duvuuru is the regional IT director of 306-bed Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, which staffs more than 600 registered nurses and 300 physicians. In October 2018, Alvarado Hospital, which is owned by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, deployed a physician-driven digital software to increase surgical procedure efficiency with real-time data and analytics.
Benjamin Fiser. CIO at Henry County Hospital (Napoleon, Ohio). Mr. Fiser joined Henry County Hospital as CIO in November 2021. He has almost twenty years of information services in the role, with five of those years in community hospitals. Henry County Hospital opened in 1982 and is now a critical access hospital with 25 beds.
Kristen Guillaume. Vice President and CIO of Meritas Health North Kansas City (Mo.) Hospital. Ms. Guillaume joined Meritas Health North Kansas City Hospital as vice president and CIO in September 2018, bringing more than 20 years of information services and healthcare technology experience to the role. Prior to joining North Kansas City Hospital, she held several leadership roles at Cerner and health IT company Netsmart.
Ross Hurd. CIO of Lake Chelan (Wash.) Community Hospital. Mr. Hurd has served as CIO of Lake Chelan Community Hospital since 2006. He oversees the implementation of new technologies at the 25-bed hospital and seeks out partnerships with larger hospitals in the state to expand service offerings. For example, the hospital's telestroke program gives Lake Chelan clinicians real-time, 24/7 access to Seattle-based Swedish Medical Center's stroke team.
Charles Fennell. Regional Chief of IT at St. Peter's Health Partners (Albany, N.Y.) and CIO of St. Joseph's Health (Syracuse, N.Y.). Mr. Fennell has more than 30 years of experience in information systems. He stepped in as interim CIO of St. Peter's Health Partners in December 2015 before permanently taking over the position in April 2016. He also serves as CIO of Syracuse, N.Y.-based St. Joseph's Health, a position he has held since 2001.
Stan Jankowski. Vice President, CIO and HIS Officer at Hospital for Special Care (New Britain, Conn.). Mr. Jankowski is responsible for the IT department at Hospital for Special Care, an acute-care hospital for both adults and children. The organization has integrated a single clinical information system platform for the acute and ambulatory care sides in the past three years and has optimized workflow for several specialty lines, including spinal cord injuries and pulmonary rehabilitation.
Michael Jefferies. Vice President and CIO of Boulder (Colo.) Community Health. Mr. Jefferies focuses on implementing technology advancing provider capabilities and operational efficiencies at Boulder Community Health. Before joining the hospital in 2016, Mr. Jefferies was vice president of information systems at Longmont (Colo.) United Hospital. He holds a CHIME's certified healthcare CIO designation and is a HIMSS-certified professional in healthcare information and management systems.
Eric Jimenez. CIO at Artesia (N.M.) General Hospital. When Mr. Jimenez joined Artesia General Hospital in 2014, his main priority was transitioning the hospital from three disparate EHR systems to one. He also implemented a comprehensive cybersecurity awareness program for all staff members, which has contributed to a 54 percent decrease in the number of phishing clicks.
Richard D. Lang, EdD. Vice President and CIO of Doylestown (Pa.) Health. Dr. Lang oversees all information technology services at Doylestown Health, which has 232 beds and a medical staff of more than 435 physicians. Under his leadership, Doylestown Hospital earned the HealthCare's Most Wired designation seven times, most recently in 2018.
Don Lindsey. Vice President and CIO of Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial Healthcare. Mr. Lindsey oversees the strategic direction, mission and implementation of IT at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, a nonprofit health system that includes a 772-bed hospital and 32 affiliated physician practices. He is responsible for the hospital’s technology activities and developed the vision for its outpatient and inpatient EMR systems.
Dale E. Moyer. Vice President/Information Systems and CIO of Evangelical Community Hospital (Lewisburg, Pa.). Mr. Moyer joined Evangelical Community Hospital more than 35 years ago and was its director of information systems before being appointed vice president and CIO in 2011. He oversees technology strategy and growth and led the hospital's conversion to an EHR.
Kyle Marek. Vice President and CIO of Carteret Health Care (Morehead City, N.C.). As vice president and CIO, Mr. Marek oversees the 135-bed nonprofit hospital's strategy to use new technology to make the hospital more efficient and improve clinical care. Under his leadership, Carteret Health Care earned the HealthCare's Most Wired designation in 2017.
John Mangona. Vice President, Chief Information and Compliance Officer of Saratoga Hospital (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.). Mr. Mangona, who joined Saratoga Hospital in 1995, is involved in the Medical Users Software Exchange, the Health Care Compliance Association and the Health Information Exchange of New York. Saratoga Hospital, an affiliate of Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center, was recognized with the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction in 2017 for the second consecutive year.
Michael Mistretta. Vice President and CIO of Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington). Mr. Mistretta joined Virginia Hospital Center as vice president and CIO in 2015 and has more than three decades of experience in the healthcare industry on both the payer and provider sides. Under the leadership of Mr. Mistretta, who has extensive experience with EHR implementations, software development and data center management, Virginia Hospital Center earned the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction in 2017 for the second consecutive year.
Deane Morrison. CIO of Concord (N.H.) Hospital. Mr. Morrison serves as CIO of Concord Hospital, a 295-bed facility with 2,705 full time employees that oversaw 20,873 admissions in fiscal year 2018. Mr. Morrison, a healthcare IT veteran with more than 25 years of experience, first joined Concord Hospital in 1976 and became CIO of Concord Hospital and Capital Regional Healthcare in 1996. He is also a member of HIMSS and CHIME.
Deb Muro. CIO of El Camino Hospital (Mountain View, Calif.). Ms. Muro serves as the CIO of El Camino Hospital, a 443-bed, locally governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, Calif. Ms. Muro, who joined El Camino Hospital in 2014, led the installation and implementation of the hospital's EHR. She has held various healthcare IT management positions at UnityPoint Health in West Des Moines, Iowa, and Allina Health in Minneapolis. Today, she has more than 25 years of combined nursing, clinical and healthcare technology experience. In 2018, under her leadership, the hospital earned the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction.
Emmanuel Ndow. CIO of Marion (Ind.) General Hospital. Mr. Ndow serves as CIO at Marion General Hospital, a role he assumed in 2015. Under his leadership, the hospital has successfully implemented several technology solutions, including ambulatory EHR systems, telehealth visits with school systems, cloud-hosted solutions and business analytics tools, among others. In 2014, Marion General Hospital achieved stage 6 on the HIMSS analytics EMR adoption model.
Fredrick Peet. CIO of Yuma (Ariz.) Regional Medical Center. Mr. Peet serves as CIO of Yuma Regional Medical Center, a 406-bed hospital with 2,400 employees, including 400 medical practitioners. Mr. Peet became Yuma Regional's CIO in 2015. He previously served as YRMC's director of IT and has experience as an information security officer.
Carol Roosa. Vice President of Operations and CIO of Heywood Hospital (Gardner, Mass.). Ms. Roosa joined the 134-bed Heywood Hospital as CIO in 2012, after serving as CIO at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, N.H. for several years. Under her leadership, Heywood Hospital is continuing its efforts to expand its EMR system throughout its network of facilities and providers. Ms. Roosa, who has more than 30 years of healthcare IT experience, is also a member of CHIME.
Christopher Ryan. CIO of Auburn (N.Y.) Community Hospital. Mr. Ryan serves as CIO of Auburn Community Hospital, a 99-bed facility serving a population of about 80,000 residents. Under his leadership, the community hospital achieved HIMSS Analytics EHR adoption model stage 6, an indicator that an organization delivers high quality patient care with an interoperable EHR. Before joining Auburn Community Hospital as CIO in 2009, Mr. Ryan served as vice president of business development at Pervasive Solutions and IT manager at St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, N.Y.
Derek Sailors. Director of Information Systems at Community Hospital (McCook, Neb.). Mr. Sailors serves as director of information systems for Community Hospital. He joined Community Hospital in 2008 as an information systems technical support coordinator and advanced in the organization before being promoted to director of information systems in February 2017.
Richard Schaeffer. Vice President and CIO of St. Clair Hospital (Pittsburgh). Mr. Schaeffer is CIO of St. Clair Hospital, a 329-bed acute-care medical center with 600 physicians. He is responsible for establishing strategic IT direction of the hospital.
Carl Smith. CIO of King's Daughters Medical Center (Brookhaven, Miss.). As CIO of King's Daughters Medical Center, Mr. Smith oversees all processes related to computing, mobility, telecommunications, networking, information security and technology adoption. Since Mr. Smith joined the organization as a data processing manager in 1994, the hospital has launched one of the region's first critical care telemedicine programs and overhauled its EHR to achieve stage 6 on the HIMSS EMR adoption model in 2017.
Josef Spencer. CIO and Senior Vice President of Information Services at Wise Health System (Decatur, Texas). Mr. Spencer oversees the IT department for Wise Health System, which covers 11 counties in Texas and has more than 90 ambulatory locations. Mr. Spencer has previous experience as a site CIO for McKesson at Grand River Hospital, a 567-bed hospital in Canada, and CIO of the Medical University of Ohio in Toledo. He is a certified project management professional from the Project Management Institute and previously served as president of the organization’s healthcare chapter.
Brian Sterud. CIO of Faith Regional Health Services (Norfolk, Neb.). Mr. Sterud served as Brookings (S.D.) Health System's director of information management for four years before becoming Faith Regional Health Services' CIO in 2012. Leveraging his prior experience as a network analyst, data systems engineer and remote systems engineer and consultant, Mr. Sterud has helped Faith Regional Health Services achieve stage 6 on the HIMSS EMR adoption model and deploy a virtual health application to ensure patients' expectations are met.
Jordan Tannenbaum, MD. Vice President, CIO and CMIO of Saint Peter’s Healthcare (New Brunswick, N.J.). Dr. Tannenbaum has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, including a background in clinical informatics. In his current role as vice president, CIO and CMIO of Saint Peter’s Healthcare, Dr. Tannenbaum supervised an EMR implementation on the inpatient side as well as the installation of an artificial intelligence product designed to help identify patients at high risk for readmission and extended length of stay. He is also responsible for the system’s technology operations and focuses on optimizing its EHR as well as internal communications and patient engagement technologies. Dr. Tannenbaum is a CHIME-certified healthcare CIO.
Kwi Vollhardt. Vice President of Information Systems at Knox Community Hospital (Mount Vernon, Ohio). Ms. Vollhardt oversaw the implementation of Knox Community Hospital's EHR and enterprise documentation management system in June 2012, a process that was part of a $21 million modernization project. With an MBA in her toolbelt, she has directed the hospital's computer-related processes since 2004.
Mark Waind. CIO of Altru Health System (Grand Forks, N.D.). Mr. Waind was named CIO of Altru Health System in 2015, after a nine-year tenure as the organization's administrative director of information services. He became a Certified Professional in Health Information Management & Systems before leading Altru Health System to earn the HealthCare's Most Wired distinction in 2016 to 2018, as well as HIMSS Analytics stage 7 revalidation in 2018.
Shawn Weldin. Director of IT at Sabetha Community Hospital (Kan.). In his 12th year serving as Sabetha Community Hospital's IT director, Mr. Weldin oversees all technology across its hospital, clinic and home health facilities. Mr. Weldin is president-elect and vice president of the HIMSS Kansas chapter's board of directors and was previously the organization's sponsorship co-chair.
John Wilcox. Vice President, Information Technology of Morris (Ill.) Hospital & Healthcare Centers. Mr. Wilcox served as interim CIO for Washington, D.C.-based United Medical Center and CIO for West Plains, Mo.-based Ozarks Medical Center before he was installed as Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers' technology chief. He is tasked with planning and executing IT initiatives across the organization, which encompasses the 89-bed Morris Hospital, 1,300 employees and 200-plus physicians.
Jason Yaworsky. CIO of Upper Allegheny Health System (Olean, N.Y.). Since becoming Upper Allegheny Health System's senior vice president and CIO in 2009, Mr. Yaworsky has led the organization's EHR implementation, computerized physicians' order entry, updated digital clinical imaging and created a patient portal. Under his direction, the system received the HealthCare's Most Wired designation for two years straight. Prior to guiding these achievements, Mr. Yaworsky was IT director at Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital.