Donna Hyland, CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, will retire this year, and Patrick Frias, MD — currently co-president and CEO of Rady Children’s Health in Southern California — has been named her successor.
Ms. Hyland has led the organization since 2008. During her tenure, Children’s has grown patient volumes to 1.2 million annually and now serves more than 3,000 patients daily, according to a March 5 health system news release.
Her tenure also included the merger of Scottish Rite and Egleston to form Children’s; bringing Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital under Children’s operations; adding the Marcus Autism Center to the system; and most recently developing the North Druid Hills campus and opening the Arthur M. Blank Hospital in 2024.
Ms. Hyland also helped formalize the partnership between Children’s and Emory University School of Medicine, according to the release.
Dr. Frias will begin his new role later this summer. Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, currently co-president and CEO of Rady Children’s Health, will lead the organization as sole president and CEO following Dr. Frias’ departure, according to a separate March 5 news release from San Diego-based Rady Children’s.
Dr. Frias previously spent 18 years at Children’s as a cardiologist, chief physician officer and COO. He joined Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center in 2018 as president and CEO.
Rady Children’s said Dr. Frias and Ms. Cripe also played key roles in the 2025 merger of the parent companies of Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The merger created a pediatric health system with three hospitals, more than 13,000 employees and over 2,000 medical staff.
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