Hospitals and health systems are expanding their C-suites with inaugural executive roles aimed at strengthening clinical, digital and operational leadership.
Editor’s note: This webpage was created Feb. 25 and will be continually updated.
Here are the new roles hospitals and health systems have added this year:
1. Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai named Ravi Thadhani, MD, to the newly created role of executive vice president, chief physician executive and dean of the medical faculty. Dr. Thadhani will oversee the system’s academic and clinical enterprises, unifying care delivery, research and education. He succeeds Shlomo Melmed, MD, who held the dean role for 28 years and will transition to dean emeritus and executive adviser to President and CEO Peter Slavin, MD.
2. HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill., appointed Aryn Hunter, RN, BSN, as its first chief administrative officer. Ms. Hunter will oversee nursing, operations and other organizational needs at the hospital, which is part of Hospital Sisters Health System. She previously served as chief administrative officer for HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, Ill.
3. Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital in Shelbyville, Tenn., appointed Lori Martin, BSN, COO and chief nursing officer after she served in the inaugural interim role for the past four months. She will oversee operations, support growth initiatives and lead care teams.
4. New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health appointed Brian Kim, MD, its first chief biotechnology officer. In the role, he will oversee the health system’s biotechnology strategy and intellectual property management while continuing his research.
5. Columbus-based OhioHealth appointed Lori Turner its first senior vice president and chief customer experience officer. Most recently, Ms. Turner served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.
6. Richmond, Va.-based VCU Medical Center appointed Rick McClenny, BSN, RN, to the newly created role of associate vice president of quality and safety. Mr. McClenny began the position May 24 and will work with clinical, academic and operational leaders to oversee quality, safety and performance improvement strategies across VCU Medical Center clinics and services.
7. UT Dell Medical Center, a soon-to-be-built academic medical center in Austin, Texas, appointed Hongfang Liu, PhD, inaugural chief translational AI and informatics officer. Dr. Liu will also serve as chair of the newly established Department of Quantitative and Systems Health Sciences at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. The department officially launches Aug. 31.
8. LCMC Health, an eight-hospital system based in New Orleans, named Meghan Kirkland, PA-C, as inaugural chief of advanced practice. Ms. Kirkland will oversee strategic planning, operations and professional development for the system’s advanced practice providers.
9. Children’s Hospital of Richmond (Va.) at VCU, part of Richmond-based VCU Health, named Katie Golob inaugural COO. Ms. Golob most recently served as administrator of VCU Health’s department of surgery, a role she held since 2020.
10. Colton, Calif.-based Arrowhead Regional Medical Center appointed Andrea Daugherty inaugural chief information and digital transformation officer. Ms. Daugherty most recently worked in consulting and previously served as CIO of Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and in IT leadership roles at Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare.
11. Wenatchee, Wash.-based Confluence Health appointed James Murray, MD, inaugural chief physician executive. Dr. Murray will focus on clinical operations and service line performance across the system.
12. Beaufort Memorial in Beaufort, S.C., named Courtney Smith inaugural COO and vice president of operations. Ms. Smith, who previously served as associate vice president of operations at Beaufort Memorial, will oversee day-to-day operations, including imaging, rehab services, dietary and environmental services and plant services. She will also oversee facility improvements and capital investments.
13. Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center named Kim Slusser, PhD, RN, inaugural chief nurse executive. Dr. Slusser began serving in the role May 1.
14. Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health, a nine-hospital system, appointed Leslie Wong, MD, as its first chief clinical officer. Dr. Wong, who joined Rochester Regional health in 2024 as executive medical director for the medicine service line, assumed the new role March 23.
15. Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health named Kensaku Kawamoto, MD, PhD, inaugural chief health AI transformation officer. Dr. Kawamoto joined the organization in 2011, most recently serving as the Helmuth F. Orthner Endowed Professor and vice chair of clinical AI and informatics.
16. Corewell Health in Michigan selected Kelli Sadler, BSN, RN, as the first system chief nursing executive. Ms. Sadler will oversee more than 16,000 nurses and work with physician leaders and regional nursing teams to align care delivery and clinical priorities across the health system.
17. Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Cottage Health appointed Ryan Kelly, PhD, inaugural chief innovation officer. He will be responsible for strategy and operations at the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
18. Springfield, Mo.-based St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth appointed Matthew Alder, MD, PhD, inaugural pediatrician-in-chief and chief medical officer. Dr. Alder will be responsible for pediatric services within the joint venture between St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Springfield, Mo.-based CoxHealth.
19. Beaufort (S.C.) Memorial Hospital appointed Ashley Hildreth, MSN, RN, inaugural assistant chief nursing officer. The role was created in preparation for the opening of Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Community Hospital.
20. Megan Pfarr was named inaugural CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System Rehabilitation Hospital, set to open in Green Bay, Wis., in 2026. The appointment was made in partnership with Lifepoint Rehabilitation.
21. Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health appointed longtime physician leader Reid Adams, MD, to serve as inaugural chief medical officer. Dr. Adams has served as chief medical officer of the health system’s flagship facility — UVA Health University Medical Center — since April 2020.
22. Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine appointed Anika Gardenhire, RN, its inaugural chief digital and information officer. Ms. Gardenhire previously served as chief digital and transformation officer at Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health.
23. Gainesville, Fla.-based UF Health named Janice Walker, DHA, RN, inaugural chief nursing officer. Dr. Walker most recently served as system vice president and regional chief nurse officer for Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health’s Southeast region and will oversee nursing and clinical support services across UF Health’s inpatient, ambulatory and post-acute care settings.
24. Birmingham, Ala.-based UAB Health System named Terri Poe, DNP, inaugural chief nursing executive. Dr. Poe has served as vice president and chief nursing officer of UAB Medicine’s flagship facility — UAB Hospital — for more than a decade.
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