Becker's Healthcare is pleased to name the "110 hospital and health system chief medical officers to know" in 2023.
The executives featured on this list play a crucial role in directing their organization's forward momentum while continuing to serve their patients and communities first and foremost.
The Becker's Healthcare team accepted nominations for this list and selected CMOs and other equivalent titles through an editorial review process. Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with any questions or comments on this list.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals, health systems or individuals. Leaders featured on this list cannot pay for inclusion. CMOs are listed in alphabetical order.
Joshua Adler, MD. Executive Vice President for Physician Services at UCSF Health (San Francisco). Dr. Adler oversees quality, physician management, safety and coordination of patient care throughout the UCSF Health system. In addition to his leadership at UCSF Health, he is also the vice dean for clinical affairs at UCSF School of Medicine.
Machelle Allen, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Dr. Allen became deputy CMO at NYC Health+Hospitals in 2013 before being promoted to senior vice president and CMO. She is an obstetrics and gynecology physician by training and served as associate medical director at the health system's Bellevue hospital before becoming a leader at the health system level. NYC Health + Hospitals has 70 locations, including 11 hospitals.
Andy Anderson, M.D. Executive Vice President, 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 38,000 employees, including 9,000 physicians who treat a service area covering more than five million people. Dr. Anderson has served RWJBarnabas Health since 2018 as Chief Executive Officer of the Combined Medical Group of RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health, one of the largest provider consortia in the nation.
Michael Anderson, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Tacoma, Wash.). Rear Adm. Dr. Anderson (Ret.) oversees quality and patient safety for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which includes 11 hospitals, nearly 5,000 physicians and 18,000 staff members. Dr. Anderson is responsible for clinical governance, service lines, medical staff affairs, medical informatics and clinical data science for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which is part of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health. He also oversees the health system's NASA-style mission control command center, which uses artificial intelligence to track and coordinate patient care.
Alejandro Arroliga, MD. Chief Clinical Innovation Officer of Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas). Mr. Arroliga's leadership can be seen throughout Baylor Scott & White's 51 hospitals and its more than 800 patient care sites. The health system sees more than 7.8 million patient encounters annually. Prior to his internal move to chief clinical innovation officer, Dr. Arroliga served as the system's chief medical officer since 2018.
Douglas Apple. MD, Chief Clinical Officer of Ascension Michigan (Warren, Mich.). Dr. Apple is accountable for clinical performance across 16 acute care and more than 300 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.
Hoda Asmar, MD, Executive Vice President and CMO at Providence (Renton, Wash.) Dr. Asmar has 23 years of experience in healthcare leadership with various roles at health systems across the country. She was appointed chief medical officer at Providence in October 2021. Prior to her appointment, she served as chief clinical officer for Adventist Health in Roseville, Calif., for three years.
John "Jack" Audett, MD. CMO of Overlook Medical Center (Summit, N.J.). Dr. Audett is the clinical leader of Overlook Medical Center, which includes more than 1,600 physicians and is part of Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System. He took on the CMO role in 2014 and has since led Overlook's efforts to become a High Reliability Organization, denoting a strong culture of safety. Dr. Audett also takes his role of growing the next generation of clinical leaders seriously by mentoring other physicians, succession planning and supporting new leaders across Atlantic Health System.
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.
Marjorie Bessel, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of Banner Health (Phoenix, Ariz.). Dr. Bessel joined Banner 12 years ago. She served as CMO for several Banner hospitals before becoming chief clinical officer for the system. She has a background as a hospitalist and she has board certification and active staff privileges. One of Dr. Bessel's interests is the empowerment of patients through clinical information transparency.
Kavitha Bhatia, MD. CMO of Strategy at Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Dr. Bhatia is also the president and chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, which comprises Prime's nonprofit hospitals and philanthropic initiatives. In her role, she creates strategic initiatives to improve the long-term success of Prime. In addition, Dr. Bhatia is vice chair of the board of directors for the California University of Science and Medicine in San Bernardino County, California. She is a pediatrician and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Sunny Bhatia, MD. Regional CEO and Corporate CMO of Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Dr. Bhatia oversees 17 of Prime Healthcare's hospitals in California and Nevada. He is also responsible for aligning medical staff members, improving performance metrics and quality of care, ensuring efficient resource use, and improving patient and physician engagement. Dr. Bhatia also leads Prime Healthcare's cost-containment strategies in multiple areas of the health system and led the system's partnership with Carbon Health to roll out a patient-centric app that resulted in downstream revenues of $14 million annually.
Andrew Bindman, MD, Executive Vice President and CMO at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals (Oakland, Calif.). Dr. Bindman is responsible for driving superior quality and equitable health outcomes through the integration of quality innovation, care delivery, and research. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, he spent over 30 years teaching clinical medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. His research work has culminated in over 180 published articles. He has also held advisory and leadership roles for the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, HHS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other agencies.
Kent Bishop, MD. President of ProMedica Physicians and CMO of ProMedica Physicians and Acute Care (Toledo, Ohio). Dr. Bishop is the leader of the system's focus on patient experience. He joined ProMedica Physicians Group in 1994. His specialty is in robotic surgery, and he is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Jeremy Boal, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Dr. Boal is also the president of Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Downtown in New York City. He was previously the executive vice president and CMO of Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Boal came to the system as a resident at Mount Sinai Medical Center and is a board-certified internist.
William Bornstein, MD, PhD. CMO and Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer of Emory Healthcare (Atlanta). Dr. Bornstein is also a professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. He was the leader in the creation of a quality and safety program. He also was in charge of the 2006 expansion of the Emory Healthcare quality program with the Emory Healthcare Office of Quality.
Mark Briesacher, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City). Dr. Briesacher has 15 years of experience in general pediatrics and more than 20 years in leadership positions with medical groups and health systems. He provides leadership to the health system's 24 hospitals, 225 clinics, 3,000 employed physicians and advanced practice providers, and 42,000 caregivers.
Sandra E. Brooks, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Community Health Equity Officer of Thomas Jefferson University and Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals (Philadelphia). Dr. Brooks spent time as the director of the division of gynecology and oncology at the University of Maryland in College Park and chief medical officer of St. Joseph's Women's and Children's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., before joining Jefferson Health just before the pandemic. Over the last two years, Dr. Brooks became engaged in quality and safety initiatives at Jefferson and the health system's COVID-19 promotional campaign.
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, and 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 credit.
Mark Browne, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of Covenant Health (Knoxville, Tenn.). Dr. Browne has been acting as senior vice president and chief medical officer of Covenant Health since 2012. In his role, he oversees medical staff affairs, credentials and medical staff quality, in addition to coordinating service line activities for the health system across all nine acute care facilities. He is also leading the system's establishment of a new family medicine residency program that will begin training in 2024.
Hijinio Carreon, DO. Chief Medical Executive at MercyOne System (Des Moines, Iowa). Dr. Carreon was appointed to his position in May 2021. He oversees patient care and medical operations for the health system's more than 420 care locations with more than 3.3 million total patient visits.
Paul Casey, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). Dr. Casey is in charge of design, implementation and oversight of the medical center's clinical quality, patient safety and performance improvement initiatives. He's also a practicing emergency medicine physician and an associate professor and vice chairperson of operations in the Rush department of emergency medicine. In addition, he has been serving as interim president of the Rush faculty practice group since 2021.
Teri Caulin-Glaser, MD. Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President of OhioHealth (Columbus). Dr. Caulin-Glaser is leader of the OhioHealth system 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.
Joseph Chang, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO 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. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Dr. Chang has 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.
Dai Chung, MD. President, CMO and Surgeon-in-Chief of Children's Health and UT Southwestern Joint Pediatric Enterprise (Dallas). Dr. Chung brings decades of experience to his role as president, chief medical officer and surgeon-in-chief. He is responsible for strengthening clinical operations and bolstering partnerships in the community. He also has a hand in the development and execution of strategies across all pediatric operations, with the goal of improving overall quality, cost and efficiency of care for the growing North Texas pediatric population.
Michael Cuffe, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.). Dr. Cuffe joined HCA Healthcare in 2010 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 13,000 employed physicians.
C. Brian Delashmitt, DO. Executive Vice President and CMO of Hamilton Health Care System (Dalton, Ga.). Dr. Delashmitt took his position in 2020. He previously served as the medical director of Hamilton's hospitalist program since 2019. Before coming to Hamilton, he worked as a utilization review physician at Silverback Care Management.
Octavio Diaz, MD. CMO of Steward Health Care System (Dallas). With his extensive clinical and physician executive background in both academic and nonacademic institutions, Dr. Diaz brings an expanding healthcare management experience to his current role. He is responsible for physician performance, quality outcomes, regulatory oversight, risk management and patient safety at all the system's facilities. He strives to provide direct support to providers as they navigate new technology tools and electronic health records.
John Dorsey, MD. CMO, Vice President of Physician Services and Designated Institutional Official at Mercyhealth (Rockford, Ill.). Dr. Dorsey's leadership can be seen throughout Mercyhealth's seven hospitals and 85 primary and specialty care locations. MercyHealth offers more than 125 specialty and subspecialty services.
Peggy Duggan, MD. Executive Vice President and CMO of Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. Dr. Duggan oversees clinical operations for a top-ranking hospital according to U.S. News and World Report with 1,041 beds and more than 8,000 team members. She previously spent more than 15 years with the Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham Health System, during which she practiced as a breast surgeon and was medical director of the system's breast center before becoming chief medical officer for the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston.
Clay Dunagan, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at BJC HealthCare (St. Louis). Dr. Dunagan works closely with the health system's affiliated clinicians and Washington University Physicians on the development of comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to care. He directs the BJC Center for Clinical Excellence and is a national speaker on quality assessment and improvement. He has announced that he will step down from his chief clinical officer role in April 2023, after seven years of service in the position.
Daniel del Portal, MD. Senior Vice President of Medical Operations and Chief Clinical Officer at Temple University Health System (Philadelphia). Dr. del Portal is the immediate past president of the Temple University Hospital medical staff. 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.
Jason Fish, MD. CMO and Chief Quality Officer at Southwestern Health Resources (Farmer's Branch, Texas). Dr. Fish leads a network of more than 7,000 independent and community providers within the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He is responsible for advancing operational activities for the physician network and ensuring that patients receive the highest quality of care. Dr. Fish is concurrently the chief medical officer for Care and Care, a Medicare Advantage health plan. He is also a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the American College of Physicians.
Richard Fogel, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Ascension (St. Louis). Dr. Fogel was named executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Ascension in 2022. He brings a breadth of clinical and operational experience to the role, along with a passion for providing personalized care to all patients. Previously, he served as chief clinical officer for clinical and network services at Ascension and was responsible for leading the system’s clinical response throughout the pandemic.
Harris Frankel, MD. CMO and Chief Compliance Officer at Nebraska Medicine (Omaha). Dr. Frankel joined the department of neurological sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha after working for 21 years in private practice. He served as medical director for the UNMC Physicians Clinical Neurosciences Center from 2011 to 2015. He joined the executive leadership team at Nebraska Medicine in 2014.
Ernest Franklin, MD. Chief Medical Operations Officer at Tenet Healthcare (Dallas). Dr. Franklin joined Tenet Healthcare in 2019 after eight years at Baylor Scott & White Health, where 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.
Richard Freeman, MD. Regional Chief Clinical Officer at Loyola Medicine (Maywood, Ill.). Dr. Freeman was named regional chief clinical officer at Loyola Medicine in September 2019. He is also a professor of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
Alan Friedman, MD. CMO of Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health. Mr. Friedman has been part of Yale New Haven Health's medical staff since 1994. In addition to his dedicated service at the health system, he also has a clinical practice at the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
Nancy Gin, MD. Executive Vice President of Quality and Chief Quality Officer for The Permanente Federation (Oakland, Calif.). Dr. Gin oversees clinical quality and safety for more than 23,000 physicians nationwide across eight Kaiser Permanente regions and 12.6 million members. She leads the National Permanente Quality Leaders group and co-leads the Kaiser Permanente National Quality Committee. Dr. Gin also serves as medical director of quality and clinical analysis for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Gin joined the group in 1997, following her tenure on the clinical faculty of the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine.
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.
David Gonzales, MD. CMO of Christus St. Vincent (Sante Fe, N.M.). Since accepting the role of CMO in 2020, Dr. Gonzales is 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 7 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 over 400 medical staff members serving more than 300,000 people across 19,000 square miles and seven counties in northern New Mexico.
Keith Gray, MD. CMO and Executive Vice President at University of Tennessee Medical Center (Knoxville). In addition to his role as CMO, Dr. Gray serves as the chief of UT Medical Center's surgical oncology division. He was unanimously nominated for the Outstanding Physician Leader Award from his physician executive MBA class at the University of Tennessee in 2014.
Jay Grider, DO, PhD. Chief Physician Executive at UK HealthCare (Lexington, Ky.). Dr. Grider first joined UK HealthCare in 2015 and was appointed chief physician executive in May 2019. He has also served as a professor at the University of Kentucky for the last 21 years.
Timothy Groover, MD. Senior Vice President and System CMO at Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fla.). Dr. Groover oversees the full scope of physician practice across the only not-for-profit, locally governed health system in Northeast Florida. In 2014, Dr. Groover became the first African American physician to be elected to the board of directors of Baptist Health, the largest private health system in Jacksonville, Fla. During his 25-year tenure as a physician leader at Baptist Health, he has served in many leadership roles, including chief of staff of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, chief of the department of anesthesiology, medical board and executive committee chair.
Lakshmi Halasyamani, MD. System Chief Clinical Officer of NorthShore — Edward-Elmhurst Health (Evanston, Ill.). Dr. Halasyamani is responsible for developing clinical quality and patient safety strategy for NorthShore — Edward-Elmhurst Health's nine hospitals and 300-location multispecialty group practice. She leads the system's health equity strategy focused on providing consumer-centric care and boosting access to care. When the pandemic began, Dr. Halasyamani spearheaded partnerships with community members, educators and faith leaders to develop interactive programs that combated misinformation and connected people with needed resources.
Stephanie Hall, MD. CMO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Center (Los Angeles). Dr. Hall began her position in 2013. In her role, Dr. Hall provides critical oversight of clinical initiatives across the continuum of care and leads the hospitals' delivery of safe, quality, efficient care to patients while representing the interest of faculty physicians as well. She also serves as chief clinical officer of university clinical services at the University Park campus, maintains an associate professorship of clinical emergency medicine at USC, and serves as associate dean for clinical affairs for Keck Medical Center.
John Heaton, MD. President and CMO of LCMC Health (New Orleans). Dr. Heaton is a passionate advocate for patient safety and quality care delivery systems. In his role as president and chief medical officer of LCMC Health, he manages various clinical and operational areas while providing medical expertise and operational experience to departments of quality, case management and population health. Prior to his current position, he served as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Children's Hospital in New Orleans.
James Helstrom, MD. CMO of Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Dr. Helstrom brings a focus on patient safety and quality outcomes to his role. He provides leadership, direction and planning for the hospital's clinical activities and actively supervises quality, process and performance improvement programs as well as the tumor registry and clinical analytics. He is also an anesthesiologist with a patient-centric approach.
Gene Hong, MD. Chief Physician Executive of MUSC Health (Charleston, S.C.). Dr. Hong 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 of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (Lebanon, N.H.). Since beginning his role in February 2021, Dr. Huntington is responsible for clinical and physician-related responsibilities specific to the academic medical center at the system that serves 1.9 million people. He is also an assistant professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., and works clinically as a hospitalist.
David Ingram, MD. Executive Vice President and CMO at Indiana University Health (Indianapolis). Dr. Ingram has been a part of the IU Health team for more than two decades, most recently serving as president of IU Health Physicians. He previously served as director of neonatal-perinatal medicine from 2009 to 2014. Dr. Ingram has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
Amir Jaffer, MD. CMO of NewYork-Presbyterian Queens (Flushing, N.Y.). Dr. Jaffer oversees the medical team at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, a 535-bed tertiary care facility with a network of affiliated physician practices. He focuses on providing quality care, effective resource use and finding cost savings. Under his leadership, the hospital went from having a one to a four star CMS rating and grew eight healthcare service lines.
Gurjeet Kalkat, MD. CMO of Emanate Health (Covina, Calif.). Dr. Kalkat brings over 40 years of experience in the medical field to his role as chief medical officer of Emanate Health. He uses his leadership position to provide integrated quality care and to guide physicians, staff and the community using critical health news and information. He is a fellow of Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital and USC University Hospital.
Jill Kalman, MD. Executive Vice President, CMO and Deputy Physician-in-Chief of Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Dr. Kalman is responsible for overseeing all clinical aspects at Northwell Health, a system that consists of 23 hospitals and 77,000 employees. She took on her role at Northwell in 2021, becoming the first female chief medical officer in the system’s history. One of her focuses in the role is burnout prevention in clinicians and physicians. Previously, she served as executive director of Lenox Hill Hospital.
Bryan Kelly, MD. Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director at Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). Dr. Kelly specializes in sports medicine and serves several sports teams, including the New York Rangers, the New York Giants and the New York Red Bulls Major League Soccer team. He has authored over 140 articles and scientific publications and also holds faculty appointments at Weill Cornell Medical College and medical staff appointments at HSS and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
J. Douglas Kirk, MD. CMO of UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Kirk leads and directs the professional portion of the 646-bed acute care teaching hospital's clinic 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.
Justin Klamerus, MD. Executive Vice President and CMO of McLaren Health Care Corporation (Grand Blanc, Mich.). Dr. Klamerus serves as chief medical officer for 14 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. Dr. Klamerus has been with the system since 2009, when he joined as a practicing oncologist.
Mark Kline, MD. Senior Vice President, Physician-in-Chief and CMO of Children's Hospital New Orleans. Dr. Kline joined Children's Hospital New Orleans as physician-in-chief in July 2021, overseeing the hospital's pediatric academic medical programs and helping to advance the hospital's academic medicine, training and teaching. In October 2021, Dr. Kline took on the additional role of CMO. Dr. Kline's previous specialization in pediatric infectious diseases led to his 2019 nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for his groundbreaking work in the pediatric HIV/AIDS field.
Joshua Kooistra, DO. Senior Vice President and CMO of Hospital Care at Spectrum Health (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Dr. Kooistra has served as Spectrum Health's senior vice president and CMO of hospital care since January 2019. He previously served as the system's vice president and department chief of acute health and continuing care. Before his time with Spectrum, he was an attending physician at Emergency Care Specialists in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 11 years.
Helen Koselka, MD. CMO at TriHealth (Cincinnati). Before being named CMO in a unanimous 2021 vote, Dr. Koselka was the system's interim CMO. Previously, she was regional CMO for TriHealth's Good Samaritan Region beginning in 2017. She has been with TriHealth for more than 26 years.
John Krueger, MD. CMO, 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 Chickasaw Nation Department of Health’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.
Deepa Kumaraiah, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO at NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City). Dr. Kumaraiah joined the hospital in 2012 and previously served as the senior vice president of service line integration and chief physician of NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Groups. Previously, she 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.
O. Scott Lauter, MD. CMO of Atlantic Medical Group (Morristown, N.J.). Dr. Lauter oversees clinical affairs for Atlantic Medical Group, which includes 1,200 clinicians and 400 offices in 14 counties. Under his leadership, Atlantic Medical Group became more responsive to community needs, creating five regional councils for 30 work groups within the organization. He has also been on the forefront of making sure the medical group remained operational since the pandemic began and played a part in the organization joining the American Medical Association's Advancing Equity Through Quality and Safety Peer Network.
Whitney Limm, MD. Executive Vice President, Clinical Integration and Chief Physician Executive of 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.
Gary Little, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO, Greater Charlotte Region of Atrium Heath (Charlotte, N.C.). Dr. Little leads initiatives in quality, patient safety, physician engagement, clinical operations and system integration for Atrium's Greater Charlotte area acute care hospitals. He aims to develop and drive health equity initiatives and to eliminate care disparities. Dr. Little played a key role in the February 2022 opening of Atrium Health Union West, the system's first newly built hospital in Charlotte in over 30 years.
Dennis Lund, MD. CMO of Stanford Children's Health and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.). After establishing himself as a trauma, transplant and general pediatric surgeon at Boston Children's in the 1990s, Dr. Lund held elevating titles including surgeon-in-chief of the University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital in Madison and Phoenix Children's Hospital, until he joined Stanford Children's in March 2015 as CMO. Dr. Lund also serves as the associate dean of faculty for pediatrics and obstetrics at Stanford University, and held a nearly year-long appointment as the health system's interim president and CEO. Dr. Lund is heavily involved in healthcare advocacy, holding fellow status with the American Surgical Association, American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Pediatrics.
Andrew Mayo, MD. CMO at St. Croix Hospice. Dr. Mayo provides clinical direction for St. Croix Hospice, a rapidly growing hospice organization that serves 10 Midwest states and over 3,800 patients daily from 60 branches. He works diligently to develop, maintain and monitor the standards of medical care at St. Croix Hospice. He also works closely with the medical team, educating them on patient eligibility for admission, collaborating with patients’ attending physicians and providing oversight to patients’ plan of care.
David McAneny, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO at Boston Medical Center. Dr. McAneny was appointed Boston Medical Center's senior vice president and chief medical officer in 2022. Prior to this role, he served in various leadership roles at the center, including chief surgical officer and chief of the division of general surgery. Dr. McAneny also oversaw the American College of Surgeons' national surgical quality improvement program.
Sonia Mehta, MD. Regional CEO, Corporate CMO and Chief Academic Officer of Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Dr. Mehta is a member of the Prime Healthcare executive leadership team, and she oversees operations at seven hospitals. She is also responsible for the system's graduate medical education programs on the East Coast. She joined Prime in 2018 and has since turned around the system's hospitals in the greater Philadelphia area, which are now listed among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient safety excellence by Healthgrades.
David Miller, MD. President of University of Michigan Health System and Executive Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor). Dr. Miller took on his role in 2021. He previously served as chief clinical officer for University Hospital and the Frankel Cardiovascular Center from 2018-20, both in Ann Arbor. Additionally, he is a professor in the department of urology.
John Misa, MD. Vice President and System Clinical Officer of Allina Health (Minneapolis). Dr. Misa joined Allina Health in 2019. He is in charge of primary care, surgical and procedural services, women's health, and specialty services. Dr. Misa was senior medical director of primary care at Park Nicollet Health Services and vice president of medical operations for Allina Health Group.
David Moorhead, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.). Dr. Moorhead previously served as senior vice president and CMO of Orlando-based Florida Hospital (now known as AdventHealth Orlando). Before that, he was CEO of Loma Linda (Calif.) University Medical Center and helped create the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.
Mark Olszyk, MD. CMO, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Vice President of Quality and Chief Patient Experience Officer of Carroll Hospital (Westminster, Md.). Dr. Olszyk also serves as the vice chair of the Maryland Board of Physicians. Over the past year, as the medical director of simulation, he has collaborated with education and nursing to stand up the hospital’s first simulation center and has helped raise funds for construction and equipment. He is the editor of a book soon to be published by the American Association for Physician Leadership: The Essential CMO Guidebook. He is also the author of several chapters.
Clark C. Otley, MD. CMO for Mayo Clinic Platform (Rochester, Minn.). Dr. Otley first joined Mayo Clinic in 1996 as a professor of dermatology. Since then, he has worked his way through the ranks, now holding the position of chief medical officer for Mayo Clinic Platform at Mayo Clinic and the role of medical director for the department of business development at Mayo Clinic. He received the Mayo Distinguished Clinician Award in 2015.
Joseph Parra, MD. CMO of Medical City Healthcare, North Texas Division of HCA Healthcare (Dallas). Dr. Parra provides senior clinical direction for the Medical City Healthcare network, which includes 16 hospitals and 5,000 active physicians. He collaborates closely with physicians, clinicians, colleagues and hospital executive leadership to ensure the successful implementation of the division's vast and multi-faceted 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.
Paryus Patel, MD. Corporate CMO of Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Dr. Patel is the Chief Medical Officer of Prime Healthcare’s Region III-VI hospitals and Corporate Chief Medical Officer for Prime Healthcare. Region III-VI includes Prime Healthcare's 20 acute care, community hospitals located in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Dr. Patel is a triple board certified physician in the fields of critical care medicine, internal medicine and pulmonology. Dr. Patel has many accomplishments throughout his nearly 30-year career in medicine, including implementing new accountable care organization programs, expanding Prime's hospitalist and surgical nursing facility programs, and implementing three disease management programs.
Robert Payton, MD. Vice President and CMO of Edward Hospital (Naperville, Ill.). Dr. Payton is the liaison between the medical staff physicians and administration, and he has direct oversight of all hospital medical directors. Dr. Payton is also responsible for regulatory compliance and physician quality and patient safety. He has spent time as the president of the Edward Hospital medical staff and served on the Plainfield (Ill.) Surgery Center board.
Eric Perez, MD. CMO of Chilton Medical Center (Pompton Plains, N.J.). Dr. Perez joined Atlantic Health System's Chilton Medical Center in 2014, and since then he has focused on physician engagement, quality, patient safety and palliative care. Under his leadership, the hospital has achieved multiple awards from The Leapfrog Group and U.S. News & World Report. He also transitioned three service lines to hospital-employed groups and was instrumental in leading the hospital's command center during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Todd Peters, MD. Vice President, CMO and Chief Medical Information Officer at Sheppard Pratt (Towson, Md.). In his role, Dr. Peters manages Sheppard Pratt physicians while overseeing overall quality of care across the organization. He also analyzes and integrates technology that allows the health system's care teams to deliver on its mission. In addition, he supervises the quality and safety program. His work helps create a seamless system of care across all programs, sites and levels of care.
Robert Phillips, MD, PhD. Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive and Specialty Physician Group CEO at Houston Methodist. In addition to his numerous roles at Houston Methodist, Dr. Phillips is an internationally recognized board-certified cardiologist who has served as principal or co-principal investigator on more than 60 clinical trials in cardiovascular disease and has published over 170 peer-reviewed and invited papers, books and book chapters. He is also a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell College of Medicine in New York City. He previously served as senior vice president and director of the Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence at Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Chan Medical School.
Kevin Post, DO. CMO of Avera Medical Group (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Since 2019, Dr. Post has used his chief medical officer position to ensure that physicians' voices are heard and that patients are advocated for within healthcare's challenging current climate. He brings over 15 years of hands-on experience with primary care and emergency medicine to the role. Among other leadership roles both past and present, Dr. Post is a member of American Academy of Family Medicine.
George Ralls, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO at Orlando Health (Fla.). In addition to overseeing clinical care delivery and quality, Dr. Ralls provides leadership for the health system's graduate medical education, organizational performance improvement, medical staff services and clinical research. He also has been credited as an essential asset to the organization's COVID-19 response.
Tony Reed, MD, PhD. Senior Vice President, Chief Quality and Safety Officer at Inspira (Vineland, N.J.). Dr. Reed joined Inspira Health as its senior vice president, chief quality and safety officer. In his role, he works to support the organization's pursuit of patient safety, quality and excellence. Before coming to Inspira Health, he served as the chief medical officer at Temple University Health System.
Christopher Rehm, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO at LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.). Before serving in his current role, Dr. Rehm was LifePoint Health's senior vice president and chief medical informatics officer. Prior to joining LifePoint, he was CMO and vice president of business development for medical software company Aionex. He previously served as COO for UnitedHealth subsidiary Cogent Healthcare's northeast region.
Margaret Reidy, MD. CMO at UCHealth (Aurora, Colo.). In her role, Dr. Reidy acts as a liaison between providers and system administration and leads efforts to develop innovative, high-quality and cost-effective treatments across the system boasting more than 24,000 employees. Before UCHealth, she held leadership roles at Pittsburgh-based UPMC.
Richard Riggs, MD. Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and CMO of Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles). During his 25-year career, Dr. Riggs has spearheaded initiatives that have significantly improved patient care. In his role, he oversees the clinical quality, medical standards, efficiency and effective use of clinical resources at the system that serves 1 million people a year.
Candace Stevens Robinson, MD. CMO of New Orleans East Hospital. Dr. Robinson brings over 10 years of medical experience to her role as chief medical officer of New Orleans East Hospital. Her role requires her to participate in the strategic and clinical direction of inpatient and outpatient services and to take responsibility for physician performance, engagement and recruitment. Outside of her hospital work, Dr. Robinson serves on Region 1 Louisiana Emergency Response Network Commission.
Daniel Roth, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Dr. Roth has served as Trinity Health's executive vice president and chief clinical officer since 2017. He joined Trinity Health in 2015 as CMO and COO of Trinity Health Partners. Prior to joining Trinity Health, he served as CMO for Mercy Health in Cincinnati. During his eight years there, he served in several physician leadership roles, including president of Mercy Health Physicians and chief medical information officer with Catholic Health Partners.
Esteban Schabelman, MD. CMO of Sinai Hospital and Grace Medical Center (Baltimore). Dr. Schabelman provides strategic direction for quality and process improvement, patient and clinical safety and overall clinical care delivery across the entire continuum of care for LifeBridge clinical programs and facilities in the West Baltimore region, including Sinai Hospital and Grace Medical Center. Prior to joining LifeBridge, he was the regional director of emergency medicine and assistant director of population health for the University of Maryland where he managed inner city emergency departments and led the creation of the telemedicine program, observation unit, and an urgent care center.
James Schuster, MD. CMO of UPMC Health Plan (Pittsburgh). Dr. Schuster has clinical leadership over UPMC's insurance services division, including Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, commercial insurer and employer offerings. He supports partnerships for value-based payment models and works with his team to develop innovative service delivery models for high-need populations. Dr. Schuster also oversees the health system's center for high-value healthcare, which has earned awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Niraj Sehgal, MD. CMO of Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. As well as serving as CMO, Dr. Sehgal is also 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. CMO at Mass General Brigham (Somerville, Mass.). Dr. Sequist was appointed CMO of Mass General Brigham in December, where he previously served as chief patient experience and equity officer. Dr. Sequist is also a practicing general internist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and is a professor of medicine and healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School.
K. Samer Shamieh, MD. CMO of AVALA (Covington, La.). Dr. Shamieh is the chief medical officer, majority physician owner, and practicing lead spine surgeon at AVALA. As CMO, he aids in the guided support of the general hospital and its operations to provide safe, effective healthcare services to the community. His ultimate goal is to enhance the patient care experience. He has received over 20 awards for AVALA since its creation in 2017.
Gulshan Sharma, MD. Senior Vice President, Chief Medical and Clinical Innovation Officer of UTMB Health (Galveston, Texas). Dr. Sharma has worked for UTMB Health for 11 years. The health system went from earning three to five 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.
Steven Sheris, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive of Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.). Dr. Sheris oversees and leads the more than 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers in the Atlantic Health System. He has also served as a co-investigator in clinical trials at Summit, N.J.-based Overlook Medical Center and is actively involved in teaching programs. Prior to his current role, Dr. Sheris was the lead cardiologist at Atlantic Health System's Associates in Cardiovascular Disease and was a physician in the United States Navy for 13 years.
Gary Stuck, DO. CMO of Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.). In his role, Dr. Stuck oversees safety, health outcomes, population health, medical staff services and credentialing, and insurance and risk management. Prior to the health system's recent combination, he served as Downer's Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Aurora Health’s executive vice president and chief medical officer.
Erik Summers, MD. CMO at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Dr. Summers has been with Wake Forest Baptist for almost 13 years. He was named CMO in June 2010 after only five months. Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Health boasts a physician force of more than 2,700. Dr. Summers earned his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 1997.
James Valin, MD. Chief Clinical Officer at Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City). Dr. Valin became chief clinical officer of Intermountain Health in 2022 after the organization united with SLC Health. He is responsible for leading 33 hospitals and 385 clinics over eight states. Prior to his current role, he served as the executive vice president and chief clinical officer for SCL Health since 2018. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Clinician Experience Project’s CEO Award of Excellence, Pandemic Heroism recognition from the Leapfrog Group and Huron's What’s Right in Health Care Hero Award.
Daniel Varga, MD. Chief Physician Executive of Hackensack (N.J.) Meridian Health. Dr. Varga is in charge of Hackensack Meridian Health's physician enterprise, care transformation services and medical management of the clinically integrated network. Prior to his current role, Dr. Varga served as senior executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Arlington-based Texas Health Resources, a nonprofit health system.
Amit Vashist, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Ballad Health (Johnson City, Tenn.). Dr. Vashist oversees clinical quality, safety and value-based care initiatives at Ballad Health. He is responsible for enterprisewide care delivery, medical staff affairs and the health system's physician partnerships. Throughout his career, Dr. Vashist has worked to improve outcomes, reduce mortality in sepsis patients and promote a zero-harm culture to reduce hospital-acquired infections.
Conrad Vial, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Vial oversees the clinical operations, quality and safety, digital patient engagement and patient experience for the 68,000-employee system. He also is a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon and has held leadership roles in multispecialty medical group practice.
Mark Welton, MD. Executive Vice President and CMO of Fairview (Minneapolis). Dr. Welton is board- certified in general surgery and colon and rectal surgery. Prior to his position at Fairview, Dr. Welton served as chief of colon and rectal surgery at California--based Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of staff for Stanford Hospital and Clinics.
David Wessel, MD. Executive Vice President, CMO and Physician-in-Chief of Children's National Hospital (Washington, D.C.). Dr. Wessel has administrative responsibility for 900 employed physicians and accountability for another 2,000 hospital employees. He also oversees six clinical centers of excellence, five institutes, a clinically integrated network and other partnerships within the system. Over the past two years, Dr. Wessel co-chaired the hospital's COVID-19 response and was instrumental in organizing international webinars on COVID-19 in children. Under his leadership, U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital No. 7 in the nation for pediatric care.
Donald Whiting, MD, CMO at Allegheny Health Network (Pittsburgh). Dr. Whiting has served in various leadership positions with Allegheny Health Network for two decades, where he now oversees clinical operations. He is also president of the system's physician organization, the Allegheny Clinic, which employs more than 1,400 physicians.
Robert Wiebe, MD. CMO of CommonSpirit Health (Chicago). Dr. Wiebe is in charge of quality, patient safety, clinical service lines, physician engagement, academic medicine, clinical research, medical informatics and clinical data science. He previously served as senior executive at Washington, D.C.-based Veterans Health Administration.
Robin Wilson, MD. CMO of DCH Health System (Tuscaloosa, Ala.). Dr. Wilson has served as chief medical officer at DCH Health for over six years. Throughout his time at the health system, he has focused on safe, high-quality, cost-effective solutions that are patient and family-centered. He is committed to change management in multidisciplinary environments that utilize evidence-based protocols to achieve clinical outcomes. Previously, he served as a physician advisor at Knoxville, Tenn.-based Covenant Health.
Robert Wyllie, MD. Chief of Medical Operations at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Wyllie has served in his position since 2011 after serving as chief of the hospital's pediatric institute and the physician-in-chief of its children's hospital. He provides gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition care to pediatric patients for the health system. He also oversees service line performance management for the Cleveland Clinic, which includes decreasing the cost of healthcare while improving quality and the patient experience.
Geralda Xavier, MD. CMO of Hackettstown (N.J.) Medical Center and Newton (N.J.) Medical Center. Dr. Xavier oversees the medical staff at two Atlantic health System hospitals: Hackettstown and Newton medical centers. She is responsible for patient safety initiatives and has more than 15 years of experience leading medical staff. She is a safety, quality, informatics and leadership fellow at Boston-based Harvard Medical School, an Institute for Healthcare Improvement adviser and a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Donald Yealy, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of UPMC (Pittsburgh). As chief medical officer for UPMC, a healthcare provider with more than 95,000 employees, 40 hospitals and 800 clinical offices and outpatient sites, Dr. Yealy 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.