The next major health system CIO opening already has a date attached to it.
Paola Arbour will retire as CIO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare at the end of 2026, according to an April 9 SEC filing. Ms. Arbour, who has led technology at the for-profit system since 2018, will remain in a nonexecutive role through April 1, 2028, to support the transition. Tenet has not publicly named a successor.
When the seat opens, it will join a long list. More than a dozen of the nation’s 200 largest health systems by revenue are operating without a permanent CIO.
Several of the biggest openings share an origin: The technology chief left for a top digital or IT job at another organization.
In January, Anika Gardenhire, RN, chief digital and transformation officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Ardent Health, departed to become the first chief digital and information officer of Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine. In June, Bill Bellando, senior vice president and CIO of Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System, was named executive vice president and CIO of Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger. That same month, CIO Keith Rivera left Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services for Omaha-based Nebraska Medicine.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia lost Shakeeb Akhter, its senior vice president and chief digital and information officer, in May to New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he is now executive vice president and chief digital officer. In June, CHOP elevated Chief Technology Officer Wes Barnes to interim chief digital and information officer.
Two other departures took executives out of health system IT altogether. Saad Chaudhry stepped down in July as the inaugural chief digital and information officer of St. Louis-based SSM Health, two years after joining the organization, and became CEO of consulting firm Evergreen Healthcare Partners. Jason Muldrow is serving as interim chief digital and information officer.
At Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare System, Jeffrey Sturman left his post as senior vice president and chief digital information officer in September 2025 to become managing partner and IT practice leader at WittKieffer — the kind of firm health systems hire to fill seats like the one he left. Memorial’s seat remains open.
The churn comes as many organizations lack a plan for replacing their technology chief. A 2024 survey from WittKieffer found that 53% of healthcare CIOs had assumed their roles within the previous three years, while only 39% of organizations reported having a CIO succession plan.
Not every opening traces to an outside offer. Debbie Cancilla retired in August as executive vice president of data strategy and CIO of Philadelphia-based Temple Health, and Vinay Bharel, senior vice president of information systems operations, is serving as interim CIO.
Other gaps have stretched for years. Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been without a permanent CIO since Tina Haskins Smith departed in 2024, and Sacramento, Calif.-based UC Davis Health has had John Cook as interim chief information and digital health officer since 2024. Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System, Orange, Calif.-based UCI Health and Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical System have relied on interim CIOs since 2025.
The list has grown through the summer and fall. Lori Boisjoli departed as CIO of Burlington-based University of Vermont Health in July, and Lexington, Ky.-based UK HealthCare named Chief Nursing Information Officer Jessica Collins, DNP, RN, interim chief digital and information officer in August. Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health and Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health are also operating without a permanent CIO.
Many of the systems now searching have leaned on insiders in the meantime. Mr. Barnes, Mr. Bharel and Dr. Collins each held senior roles at their organizations before stepping in. If their leadership teams look outside instead, the executive they hire could leave behind the next vacancy somewhere else.
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