CEO and COO Mitch Wasden: Wearing Two Hats at University of Missouri Health Care

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Mitch Wasden, EdD, first joined Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care as COO in June 2012, but took on CEO duties Jan. 1, 2013, after the former CEO, Jim Ross, retired.

Prior to joining MU Health Care, Mr. Wasden served as CEO of Ochsner Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La. He has also held leadership positions at Tympany Medical in Stafford, Texas. Mr. Wasden has more than 15 years of healthcare management experience.

As CEO and COO at MU Health Care, Mr. Wasden is responsible for day-to-day operations at the six-hospital academic health system as well as long-term strategy and external goals. Combining the two roles means Mr. Wasden is extremely busy. "I usually have 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. days with some night meetings. [My day] ends up being pretty full," he said in a previous Becker's Hospital Review interview. However, he thinks combining the CEO and COO positions has been working so far. "We plan to keep the roles together for at least the next two years — [I'm] not sure we'll separate them because it's been working pretty well for now."

Currently, Mr. Wasden is leading the expansion of MU Health's orthopedic hospital, which originally opened in 2010, and the construction of new ambulatory care sites.

Mr. Wasden earned a doctor of education degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

If you have additional information or updates for this profile, or would like to recommend a leader to be profiled in the future, please contact Lindsey Dunn, editor in chief, Becker's Hospital Review at ldunn@beckershealthcare.com.

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