Becker’s is proud to spotlight outstanding chief experience officers who are making a meaningful impact on the patient experience at hospitals and health systems nationwide.
CXOs lead efforts to elevate every touchpoint along the patient and provider journey, ensuring that experiences are safe, seamless, high-quality, convenient and compassionate. These forward-thinking executives are strategic planners, innovative problem-solvers, powerful storytellers, and passionate advocates for both patients and staff.
Note: Becker’s Healthcare developed this list based on nominations and editorial research. Leaders do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it an endorsement of the leaders or organizations mentioned. We extend a special thank you to Rhoda Weiss for her contributions to this list. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order.
For questions and comments on this list, contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com.
Jennifer Jasmine E. Arfaa, PhD. Vice President of Patient Experience at the University of Maryland Medical Center and University of Maryland Medical System (Baltimore). Dr. Arfaa helps lead patient and family experience at University of Maryland Medical Center and across the University of Maryland Medical System. She oversees a wide-ranging portfolio, spanning advocacy, volunteer services, interpreting, integrative care and inpatient logistics, helping to unite clinical and non-clinical teams in human-centered care provision. She has advanced core initiatives like bedside rounding, leader rounding and “Commit to Sit,” which have directly improved Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems metrics across the system. Previously, at UC Health in Cincinnati, her systemwide integration of service excellence into recruitment, onboarding and performance culture resulted in a measurable rise in CMS star ratings. Her industry leadership includes active roles in the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Beryl Institute, and various cultural and advocacy organizations. Earlier in her healthcare career, Dr. Arfaa was recognized with the “Early Career Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award” from ACHE.
Steve Basilotto. Chief Experience Officer of Froedtert Theda Care Health (Milwaukee). Mr. Basilotto has been the chief experience officer at Froedtert Theda Care Health since 2018. He is responsible for finding and executing leading edge opportunities to provide customers, patients and staff with positive experiences. Mr. Basilotto has direct-to-customer experience in financial services, health insurance, technology and health provision services.
Steve Bird, MD. Clinician Experience Officer at UMass Memorial Healthcare (Worcester, Mass.). Mr. Bird has held his position with UMass Memorial Healthcare since 2019 and has been a professor of emergency medicine with UMass Chan Medical School for 19 years. He previously served as director of the school’s emergency medicine residency and the vice chair of education.
Jennifer Bollinger. Senior Vice President and Chief Brand and Consumer Officer for Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Since her arrival in 2023, Ms. Bollinger has revolutionized Sutter Health’s approach to patient experience and digital engagement, delivering measurable gains across access, satisfaction and operational efficiency. Her leadership led to a 400% increase in online scheduling, a dramatic reduction in no-show rates, and a 19-day improvement in average care access through FastPass tools. By 2024, more than 1.8 million patients were digitally connected, and consumer satisfaction increased by 8% systemwide across all care settings. Ms. Bollinger had led initiatives like multi-language text reminders, chatbot interactions and streamlined service access. Recognized by Reuters as one of 2024’s “20 Trailblazing Women in Healthcare,” she brings nearly 25 years of experience in digital strategy, brand building and consumer innovation.
Edison Bond, Jr., EdD. Chief Patient Experience Officer for Episcopal Health Services (Rockaway, N.Y.). With more than three decades of healthcare leadership, Dr. Bond brings a wealth of experience in enhancing patient-centered care to his role as chief patient experience officer at Episcopal Health Services. He is charged with advancing a compassionate, high-quality experience for patients and families through organizationwide culture transformation and service excellence practices. Before joining the health system, Dr. Bond held patient experience roles at Arnot Health in Elmira, N.Y., Metro Health System in Cleveland and Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health System, improving communication and patient satisfaction in both public and private academic medical settings. He holds a certificate in executive leadership from the American College of Healthcare Executives and is an active member of professional organizations like the Patient Experience Institute, The Beryl Institute and the National Association of Health Services Executives.
Eddie Borrego. Senior Vice President, Chief Experience Officer and CEO at Jackson West Medical Center (Miami). Mr. Borrego is responsible for enhancing the overall patient experience for all of Jackson West Medical Center. He experiments with new ideas and solutions that drive innovation and address the complex challenges healthcare faces today. Prior to the center’s opening in August 2021, Mr. Borrego was responsible for overseeing the planning, design, execution and successful opening of the $280 million campus. He is currently focused on leading the operations, care delivery and growth of Jackson West, which is home to a 100-bed hospital, a diagnostic center, outpatient clinics, adult and pediatric emergency rooms, and an ambulatory medical pavilion. As CXO, he promotes a patient-centric approach, emphasizing communication, empathy and personalized care. Previously, he served as COO at Jackson South Medical Center in Kendall, Fla. He also formerly worked as chief of staff for the Miami-Dade County commissioner.
Cynthia Burger. Vice President and Chief Experience Officer of Dayton (Ohio) Children’s Hospital. Ms. Burger has been the vice president and chief experience officer at Dayton Children’s Hospital since 2018. Her responsibilities include overseeing operations, patient experience and human resources for the system, which has more than 3,200 employees. Ms. Burger previously served as the vice president of patient and family experience at the hospital from 2014-18.
Carol Campbell. Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer at Ascension (St. Louis). Ms. Campbell, Ascension’s first-ever chief experience officer, brings nearly 30 years of consumer experience expertise from world-class organizations like Delta Air Lines and Disney. Since joining the health system in 2022, she has led efforts across 16 states and Washington, D.C. to embed a cohesive consumer experience vision that aligns with Ascension’s faith-based mission. Drawing insights from industries outside healthcare, she is shaping a systemwide transformation in how patients, families and associates engage with care delivery. Ms. Campbell is also a pioneer in education, contributing to the development of North America’s first master’s program in customer experience. Her approach blends creative storytelling, strategic planning and experience design to advance holistic, purpose-driven improvements across the health system. Through her leadership, Ascension aims to evolve into a patient-first, insight-informed health system with meaningful connection at every touchpoint.
Jessica Castle. Chief Experience and Marketing Officer of Phoebe Putney Health System (Albany, Ga.). Ms. Castle joined Phoebe Putney Health System in 2014, first as vice president of marketing, public relations and business development. In her current role, she and her team elevate patient experience systemwide by implementing new programs to promote positive patient experiences throughout the care continuum. She brings over two decades of experience in healthcare to her role, leveraging a deep understanding of patient experience and brand storytelling. Prior to joining Phoebe Putney, she worked as the senior director of marketing for Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare.
Lindsay Caulfield. Chief Marketing and Experience Officer of Grady Health (Atlanta). Ms. Caulfield came to Grady Health in 2012. She previously worked at public relations agency Cohn & Wolfe as executive vice president. In her career, she has built and led integrated marketing communications programs, public relations initiatives and strategic planning for Fortune 500 companies.
Danita Cohen. Chief Experience Officer of University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas). Ms. Cohen has been the chief experience officer at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada since 2008. She helps to uphold the expectation that every patient is treated with compassion, accountability, respect and integrity. Ms. Cohen empowers those at the bedside to provide the best care possible to patients.
Eugenia Coronado. Vice President of Specialty Services and Patient Experience for NeighborHealth (Boston). Ms. Coronado, as the primary leader of specialty services and patient experience at NeighborHealth, has transformed the system into a benchmark for accessible, culturally competent care. She launched the office of the patient advocate and a dedicated patient experience department, initiatives that drove a 46-point improvement in satisfaction scores and redefined patient engagement within the state’s largest community-based health system. Her leadership of interpreter services, a program that delivers over 205,000 annual interpretations across more than 65 languages, ensures equitable access to care for all. During a major health center merger, Ms. Coronado maintained service quality and successfully integrated specialty and family medicine offerings, all while enhancing patient satisfaction. Her educational background in linguistics and emotional intelligence help her foster inclusive teams committed to high-quality care. Her work has earned NeighborHealth numerous accolades from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration and The Boston Globe.
Linh Dang. Chief Experience Officer of Cook County Health (Chicago). Ms. Dang is the chief experience officer at Cook County Health. She creates new initiatives aimed at enhancing both the patient and employees experience at the company. Ms. Dang is also responsible for ensuring that all patients and staff have a positive experience.
Tanesha Daniels. Chief Experience Officer of The Loretto Hospital (Chicago). Ms. Daniels has been the chief experience officer at The Loretto Hospital since 2013. In her role, she is responsible for advancing the hospital’s core values and mission of providing patient-centered care. Ms. Daniels also has an important role in improving hospital culture and interactions between the hospital and patients, families and visitors.
Joe Dant. Chief Growth Officer for Endeavor Health (Evanston, Ill.). Mr. Dant brings over three decades of experience to Endeavor Health, where he oversees growth strategy, physician alignment, philanthropy and patient experience across a high-performing system. A former U.S. Naval officer and healthcare executive, Mr. Dant has held roles in operations, pharmaceuticals and health insurance, most recently serving as president of Endeavor Health’s south region and institutes including Naperville, Ill.-based Edward Hospital, Elmhurst (Ill.) Hospital and Naperville-based Linden Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital. His collaborative leadership was essential during the 2022 NorthShore and Edward-Elmhurst Health merger, helping to unify and grow the newly formed Endeavor Health. Mr. Dant has helped drive significant recognitions for the organization, including Forbes‘ “America’s Dream Employers” for 2025. He also represents Endeavor Health through roles on the Naperville Development Partnership and Illinois Hospital Association’s finance and audit committee.
Seanna-Kaye Denham, PhD. Chief Experience Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County (New York City). Dr. Denham has been at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County since the start of her career. Now as its chief experience officer, Dr. Denham is its foremost thought-leader and strategist on person-centered approaches to optimizing human relationships in the healthcare setting. She and her team help their organization practice inclusive employee engagement through a robust executive leadership rounds program, the Care Experience Council and peer-led recognition programs. She led the organization to improve its approaches to patient and employee experience.
Marcia Diaz de Villegas. Chief Experience Officer for Nicklaus Children’s Health System (Miami). At Nicklaus Children’s Health System, Ms. Diaz de Villegas leads with a deep understanding of branding, hospitality and customer service to create a consistent, memorable experience for patients and families. In 2024, she expanded the children and family experience team, taking on new initiatives like the “Healing Hearts” kosher lounge and donor engagement for the forthcoming “Seacrest Studios” and “Panda Cares” center of hope. Her environmental branding efforts have transformed patient spaces across the hospital system, from specialty practices to the new Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower. She has also improved operational flow by implementing a streamlined greeter station protocol, ensuring every family is confidently guided throughout their visit. Her work has embedded signature, brand-reinforcing moments throughout the patient journey, advancing both patient satisfaction and institutional pride.
Lisa Drumbore. Chief Experience Officer and Vice President of Marketing Communication for Saint Peter’s Healthcare System (New Brunswick, N.J.). Ms. Drumbore joined St. Peter’s Healthcare in 2001 as director of service excellence, a role in which she served 15 years. She was appointed vice president and chief experience officer of the system in May 2016.
Alan Dubovsky. Chief Patient Experience Officer and Vice President of Patient Experience for Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles). Mr. Dubovsky is responsible for leading the office of patient experience for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and hospital. In his role, he oversees patient experience, patient advocacy, interpreter services and lobby services. Mr. Dubovsky was brought to Cedars-Sinai to create the patient experience program, design it to drive engagement with staff and physicians, demonstrate positive results in patient experience surveys, and build a team of professionals that meet and exceed all benchmarks. He formed and now leads the West Coast Patient Experience Collaborative, which leads medical centers and systems to push the patient experience movement forward. He has also mentored several patient experience startups, helping to share his insights with the industry.
Rick Evans. Senior Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Experience Officer for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York City). A pioneer in healthcare experience leadership, Mr. Evans serves as chief experience officer for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where he oversees experience strategy across 11 facilities and over 700 ambulatory sites. With prior CXO roles at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and extensive leadership experience at NYP, Mr. Evans has positioned the system as a national model in patient-centered care. He is a frequent national speaker, a published voice in NEJM Catalyst and The Patient Experience Journal, and a regular columnist with over 40 thought leadership pieces to his name. Mr. Evans also holds prominent leadership roles, including co-chair of the Beryl Institute’s patient experience policy forum and commissioner for the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet designation. Under his guidance, NYP has consistently ranked as the No. 1 hospital in New York and among the nation’s top hospitals, with recent recognitions from Vizient, the Joint Commission and U.S. News & World Report.
Heather Geisler. Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing, Communications and Experience Officer of Henry Ford Health System (Detroit). Ms. Geisler was appointed to her current position in 2020. She provides brand strategy and consumer experience leadership. Ms. Geisler has previously served at SS+K, a New York City marketing and advertising agency, where she led efforts in support of initiatives by former first lady Michelle Obama. She was named among Hospitality Management magazine’s “30 Most Influential Women in Hospitality” in 2018.
Donna Geiss. Patient Experience Officer for NYC Health+Hospitals/Jacobi (New York City). Ms. Geiss has been handling patient experience at NYC Health+Hospitals/Jacobi since 2015. She has skills in management, research and leadership. Before her current role, Ms. Geiss was the associate director of nursing at the hospital from 2007-15.
Sven Gierlinger. Chief Experience Officer for Northwell Health (New Hyde Park N.Y.). Mr. Gierlinger is tasked with building an engaging, innovative and collaborative culture within Northwell Health. His work is key to driving organizational growth and customer loyalty through the customer experience. One of Mr. Gierlinger’s most creative initiatives involved a reinvention of the hospital’s approach to food service. He recruited a culinary changemaker, hired multiple top-tier chefs and upgraded the hospital kitchen facilities to improve the perception, quality and taste of hospital food at Northwell. These efforts resulted in a systemwide food quality average in the 80th percentile, according to patient scores. Outside-the-box thinking from Mr. Gierlinger also led the system to embrace new technologies like AI, redesign its hospital gowns, and rethink the sights and sounds of the hospital business. In his current role, Mr. Gierlinger draws from his prior experiences at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and in the luxury hotel business.
Alexander Greengold. Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Experience Officer at Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston). Mr. Greengold is responsible for leading the development and execution of strategies that enhance patient experiences across Memorial Hermann Health System. He creates streamlined and intuitive care experiences that prioritize personalization and ease of access, with a focus on driving patient engagement and loyalty. He oversees a consumer experience team that includes specialists in analytics, strategic implementation, design engineering and patient education. The team gathers and analyzes consumer feedback to inform improvements in healthcare, operating under the idea that every team member in the system, regardless of role, is important and contributes to the consumer experience. Mr. Greengold has a background in customer experience both in and outside of healthcare. He has launched several major initiatives at Memorial Hermann, including fully rebranding culture and service, elevating patient satisfaction scores, achieving a 9.8/10 user experience rating, enabling 290 new operating and procedure rooms, transforming digital patient intake, improving patient and caregiver communications, and launching AI-powered predictive experience insights.
Philynn Hepschmidt. Vice President of Patient Access at Penn Medicine (Philadelphia). With over 20 years in healthcare leadership roles, Ms. Hepschmidt has driven large-scale initiatives that redefine the patient experience. She has led pivotal projects, including the implementation of the ambulatory EHR, the expansion of Penn Medicine’s patient portal to over 1.5 million users, and the scaling of self-service technologies such as online scheduling, waitlist automation and proactive patient communications. As the leader of the patient engagement center’s scheduling operations, Ms. Hepschmidt is co-leading a multi-million-dollar, multi-year effort to build a world-class customer service center, aimed at enhancing online scheduling, optimizing digital communications across the patient journey, and leveraging AI to improve access and health outcomes.
Terry Hudson-Jinks, DNP, MSN, RN. Chief Experience Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at Tufts Medical Center (Boston). Dr. Hudson-Jinks leads the strategy to ensure a seamless, frictionless patient- and family-centered care experience throughout the Tufts Medical Center continuum. She leverages her background as a registered nurse to integrate technology into the community, ensuring a relationship of trust is created and fostered for each member of the community. She is passionate about recognizing all staff members’ collective responsibility and empowerment in shaping the patient experience. She encourages individuals in every department to contribute their ideas and provides ample resources to help bring their concepts to fruition, ensuring that every Tufts Medical Center community member has a stake in enhancing patient care. To this end, Ms. Hudson-Jinks has created a patient experience council with a triad leadership model, which encourages the ideas and innovation of physicians, nurse leadership and administrative leads in numerous critical areas of the medical center. This model has resulted in consistent improvements, with results in the top decile performance.
Laura Irvine. Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Experience Officer for Texas Health Resources (Arlington). Ms. Irvine leads enterprise growth, strategy and consumer experience for Texas Health Resources, shaping a 10-year blueprint aligned with financial and operational goals. Her work includes forging strategic collaborations with Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center and Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth partners and guiding the Texas Health Resources board strategy committee. She spearheaded a regional healthcare landscape analysis to expand care access and has overseen the operational restructuring of Southwestern Health Resources. Recognized by D CEO for her leadership, Ms. Irvine is a prominent voice in regional and national healthcare strategy forums. She also champions data-driven innovation and product development while overseeing marketing, analytics and IT systems. Under her leadership, Texas Health has achieved multiple workplace excellence awards for being a top employer and community partner.
Suzy Jaeger. Chief Patient Experience and Access Officer for Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora). Ms. Jaeger has been a transformative force at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where she leads patient experience, access initiatives and a wide array of care support services for more than 276,000 patients annually. She played a pivotal role in relocating the hospital to its current state-of-the-art campus and has led the development of new locations across metro Denver and Colorado Springs. Ms. Jaeger also pioneered the health pavilion model, offering a comprehensive medical home for under-resourced families in Aurora. Under her leadership, Children’s Colorado has introduced creative programs like medical dogs, extended reality therapies and “Seacrest Studios”, while strengthening advisory councils and digital access systems. During the Covid-19 crisis, she co-led the incident command team to maintain service continuity and avoid furloughs or layoffs.
Franziska Jovin, MD. Senior Vice President, Chief Experience Officer of Cooper University Health Care (Camden, N.J.). Dr. Jovin has been the senior vice president, chief experience officer at Cooper University Health Care since 2019. She provides administrative oversight to the center for hospital-based services and supports health strategies. Dr. Jovin is also the co-pillar champion of quality at the health system.
Wren Lester, PhD. Chief Experience Officer of ChristianaCare (Newark, Del.). Dr. Lester was tapped to serve as ChristianaCare’s inaugural CXO in April 2024. She will lead caregiver engagement and patient care experience for the system, reporting to the system’s COO. She previously served as CXO for SUNY Downstate Health in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her prior leadership positions include associate vice president of patient experience at Planned Parenthood in New York City and director of quality management at RWJBarnabas Health Jersey City Medical Center in Hudson County, N.J.
Jill Mabry. Vice President of Patient Experience at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Ms. Mabry leads Novant Health’s culture of safe, high-quality, compassionate and connected care. She has been a champion of change by effectively uniting people, workflows and technology to drive transformation and implement behavioral interventions. In 2023, Novant Health created an innovative and unique customer service training program designed to engage, educate and inspire team members to deliver remarkable experiences in every interaction with patients, their families, visitors and team members. Ms. Mabry remains at the forefront of the initiative, which commenced with a strategic soft launch focused on teams critical for making a positive first impression, including patient experience, guest relations, spiritual care, public safety and non-clinical team members in medical practices.
Scott Macicek, MD. Chief Experience Officer at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. Dr. Macicek serves as chief experience officer at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. Before his time at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, he served at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Dr. Macicek is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease, and he is certified as a pediatric electrophysiologist by the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners.
Dwight McBee. Chief Experience Officer of RWJBarnabas Health (West Orange, N.J.). Mr. McBee serves as the chief experience officer for both RWJBarnabas Health and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he drives systemwide patient engagement strategies across one of the largest health systems in the state. Known for delivering measurable improvement in large, complex academic settings, Mr. McBee has led year-over-year gains in patient satisfaction and care outcomes. His leadership has helped the system earn national honors, including the 2024 Press Ganey “Human Experience Award” for NICU excellence at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. Mr. McBee also serves on the Beryl Institute’s national patient experience policy forum board. Prior to joining RWJBH, he led experience and health equity efforts at Jefferson Health and held executive positions at Temple Health, both in Philadelphia.
Linda McHugh. Executive Vice President and Chief Experience and People Officer for Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). As the chief experience and people officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, Ms. McHugh oversees the integration of workforce planning, experience strategy, and organizational development across a network of 36,000 team members and more than 500 care locations. Her leadership has directly contributed to sustained improvements in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores, particularly in nurse and physician communication and overall patient satisfaction, outpacing national trends. Through the rollout of the “StandOut” platform, she has strengthened engagement and coaching while exceeding national benchmarks. Ms. McHugh has led innovative talent development and retention strategies like apprenticeship pipelines, competitive benefits and wellbeing initiatives, all of which have resulted in acute care turnover below national averages. She also spearheaded programs like the “COACH” model, “Wellbeing Spahhh” and “Circle of Compassion”, supporting a high-performing and resilient workforce. A former Cleveland Clinic executive with 35 years of service, Ms. McHugh champions internal mentorship, talent cultivation and a unified “One HMH” culture of excellence.
Steve Meth. Chief Experience Officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). Since joining Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2023, Mr. Meth has led efforts to embed patient- and family-centered care across Johns Hopkins Medicine, a globally respected academic health system. He has enhanced transparency by publishing provider-level experience data, initiated an automated emergency department communication system for families, and improved post-discharge outcomes through high-touch follow-up calls. His innovative communication workshops have trained over 300 clinicians in high-stress interactions, reducing burnout and strengthening therapeutic relationships. Mr. Meth’s leadership approach is both data-driven and deeply human, leveraging patient feedback to build sustainable change across multiple care settings. He also contributes at the national level, serving on CMS’s pre-rulemaking measure review committee to influence future quality standards. His work has been instrumental in Johns Hopkins Medicine sustaining its elite rankings and in advancing person-centered care across its many sites of service.
Keisha Mullings-Smith. Vice President and Chief Consumer Experience Officer for University of Chicago Medicine. Since joining UChicago Medicine in 2022, Ms. Mullings-Smith has catalyzed a remarkable improvement in patient experience, leading the system to its highest satisfaction scores in six years. She developed and launched a five-year consumer experience transformation strategy that unites patient care, workforce culture and service excellence into one integrated approach. This reorganization created a new consumer experience division, aligning patient and family engagement, human resources and employee engagement to emphasize the interconnectedness of employee and patient satisfaction. With two decades of experience in healthcare operations and patient experience leadership, her efforts have significantly boosted engagement across UChicago Medicine’s 12,000-person workforce. Her leadership continues to drive both employee empowerment and consumer loyalty in a system already distinguished by 26 consecutive “A” Leapfrog safety grades. She brings past leadership experience from her time at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University Hospital.
Cynthia Neiman. Chief Experience Officer at Rady Children’s Health (San Diego and Orange, Calif.). Ms. Neiman has more than 35 years of leadership in the areas of patient, family, employee and consumer experience as well as branding, marketing and communications inside and outside of healthcare. Rady Children’s Health is the result of the recent merger between Children’s Hospital of Orange (Calif.) County and Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego. Prior to her new role, Ms. Neiman spent the past seven years as the chief marketing and experience officer for Children’s Hospital of Orange County, leading marketing, communications, patient and family experience, customer care, patient advocacy, child life, concierge nursing, language services, events and celebrations, spiritual care and branded merchandise. In her new role, Ms. Neiman is focusing on creating an enterprisewide, harmonized approach to patient and family, volunteer and employee experience, leveraging previous healthcare and consumer products expertise gleaned during her time at Mattel, IKEA and Munchkin.
Giora Netzer, MD. Vice President and Chief Experience Officer for University of Maryland Medical System (Baltimore). Dr. Netzer serves as the inaugural chief experience officer for the University of Maryland Medical System, where he leads experience transformation across a $5 billion, 29,000-person academically aligned health system. Since assuming the role in 2022, he has developed a systemwide charter and vision for patient experience and launched the system’s first-ever universal skills training program, tailored to frontline, clinical and leadership audiences. His initiatives have strategically aligned patient experience with safety and quality under a high reliability framework, contributing to an $11 million reduction in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems-related penalties between rate year 2025 and rate year 2026. Dr. Netzer has elevated clinical engagement through provider-led tactics like interdisciplinary bedside rounding and coordinated efforts with nursing leaders to enhance care delivery culture. He also established the system’s first family presence policy, expanded surveying infrastructure and integrated equity-focused experience initiatives to reduce obstetric disparities. Dr. Netzer is a national presence in patient care guideline development and society leadership, and was recently appointed as co-chair of the Maryland Hospital Association patient experience learning collaborative.
Julie Oehlert, DNP, RN. Chief Experience Officer and Brand Officer for ECU Health (Greenville, N.C.). Dr. Oehlert has revolutionized the culture at ECU Health by integrating human experience principles into every level of care, championing initiatives like the “Big E” that connects team member experience with patient outcomes. Leveraging her clinical background, she has introduced impactful programs such as tranquility rooms and “Code Lavender” to support the emotional well-being of frontline staff. Her forward-thinking response during the Covid-19 pandemic included the creation of non-clinical support roles on inpatient and emergency teams, reducing nurse burnout and enhancing patient satisfaction. Thanks in large part to her work, ECU Health earned national acclaim, with PEP Health naming it a top performer in patient experience for multiple consecutive years. Dr. Oehlert also launched the “Patient Choice Award” to celebrate units achieving exceptional and improved experience ratings, reinforcing a culture of compassion and excellence.
Tiffany Pankow, MD. Chief of Caregiver Wellness and Patient Experience at HonorHealth (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Dr. Pankow is focused on linking caregiver wellness and patient experience together, knowing that if caregivers are unwell, it impacts patients as well. She develops and implements strategies that enhance the wellbeing of HonorHealth’s caregivers while emphasizing efforts to further develop patient satisfaction and engagement, inclusion initiatives, and culture initiatives that support and sustain the changes. As a practicing family medicine physician, Dr. Pankow fully understands the importance of caregiver wellbeing and leads caregiver wellness conversations by increasing mental health access for all team members and patients, reducing stigma, limiting administrative burden, enhancing collaboration and encouraging holistic health and wellbeing. She also leads several process improvement initiatives to reduce burnout, including medical assistant training programs, workflow improvement programs and in-basket reduction programs. In addition, she is working to add behavioral health to all HonorHealth primary care locations. During her tenure, Dr. Pankow has overseen vaccine governance, led the expansion of team-based care, helmed the HonorHealth medical group social determinants of health initiative, and implemented a diabetes prevention program.
Shannon Patterson. Executive Director of Consumer and Patient Experience at Stamford (Conn.) Health. Ms. Patterson serves as Stamford Health’s executive director of consumer and patient experience, leading the strategy and execution of consumer and patient experience across both Stamford Hospital and Stamford Health Medical Group. She handles patient experience metrics and surveys, and is responsible for implementing best practices as related to patient experience. She heads various people-centered teams, including patient relations, spiritual health and wellbeing, welcome desks, concierge, gift shop, switchboard and the Planetree Certification team. She is a member of the DEI Core group, leadership group and training committee.
Delinda Pendleton, RN, MSN. Director of Patient Experience and Strategic Clinical Initiatives at Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Ms. Pendleton, in collaboration with Fox Chase Cancer Center’s CNO and senior leadership, develops short- and long-term patient experience goals and leads strategic initiatives aimed at meeting those goals. She manages customer complaints, deploys customer service recovery methods, and oversees the guest services ambassadors program to reinforce Fox Chase’s reputation. In 2023, Ms. Pendleton led the transition to Press Ganey for patient satisfaction metrics and saw a 94.4% overall rating of care for medical practice. Under her leadership, Fox Chase was also one of only 98 organizations awarded the Gold Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care by Planetree International in January 2023. For three decades, Ms. Pendleton has represented the patient’s voice within Fox Chase and has celebrated the Fox Chase team members that provide exemplary customer service.
Nicole Pepitone. Vice President of Employee Experience and Human Resources Strategy at Ochsner Health (New Orleans). Ms. Pepitone focuses on the employee experience at Ochsner Health, developing and leading the organization’s culture and strategy. She works to integrate and align employee experience resources, programs and insights to build the organization’s understanding of the employee journey and its key moments. Ms. Pepitone works alongside Dr. Alison Wilde Soileau to enhance the experience of the 38,000-plus dedicated team members and 4,700-plus employed and affiliated physicians at Ochsner Health, as well as the patients at its 46 hospitals and 370-plus clinics. She has previously served as the system’s director of office strategy management and chief of staff to the CEO, as well as manager of office strategy management.
Shweta Ponnappa. Chief Marketing Officer and Digital Experience Officer for Providence (Renton, Wash.). As chief marketing officer and digital experience officer for Providence, Ms. Ponnappa leads a team of strategists, technologists, engineers, data scientists, marketers and experience leaders. Since her promotion to the role in 2022, she has overseen all marketing efforts and the system’s 25 consumer-facing websites, which serve tens of millions of visitors each year and drive 18% of all outpatient visits. She is responsible for onsite consumer experience, offsite local listings, systemwide and regional marketing campaigns, marketing platforms, web analytics, web compliance and overall ownership of the system’s digital footprint. Among her most innovative initiatives was the implementation of machine learning-based predictive analytics that model customer needs and preferences, which resulted in enhanced customer engagement and business growth. In 2023, under Ms. Ponnappa’s leadership, the system built a modern, integrated, HIPAA-compliant MarTech stack with a fully-implemented consumer data platform. This allows for immediate access to data, faster and more informed decision-making, and annual cost savings of over $1 million each year.
Mari Ransco. Associate Executive Director of Patient Experience at University of Utah Health (Salt Lake City). Ms. Ransco oversees patient experience initiatives for the University of Utah Health’s 24,000 clinicians and staffers, who perform care for 2 million patients annually. The extensive regional network includes 12 community clinics, five hospitals, and a patient referral network that covers 10% of the U.S. The system incorporates feedback from its patient network every year, using it to drive daily planning and strategic operations. Ms. Ransco spearheads the cultural and operational dedication to providing exceptional patient experience by focusing on system education, strategic deployment, and engagement among physicians and employees. In her role as co-founder and editor-in-chief of the “Accelerate Learning Community”, the system’s employee-driven online learning platform, she has successfully cultivated a culture of continuous learning and people-centeredness. This community has actively involved over 515 frontline faculty, staff and trainee contributors, with 5,409 internal subscribers from across the organization. Together, they have developed 668 original articles, drawing the attention of 181,000 users who have generated over 1.1 million pageviews. Since taking on the role in 2017, Ms. Ransco has skillfully upheld the system’s tradition of growth and innovation by shifting organizational focus from a patient-centric to a people-centered approach, restructuring and growing her department’s capability to translate big data into actionable insights, and modernizing systems infrastructure.
Julie Rish, PhD. Vice President of Consumer Experience at AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.). Dr. Rish leads consumer and patient experience for AdventHealth, 52-hospital faith-based healthcare delivery network with over 95,000 team members serving 8 million-plus patients annually. Dr. Rish serves as a key leader in the system’s Vision 2030 strategy for consumer centricity, focused on making AdventHealth easy to access, simple to use and helping those they serve to feel whole. Her responsibilities include driving solutions around consumer friction points, activation and change management for consumer-focused initiatives, and an emphasis on culture, learning and performance improvement for patient and consumer experience. Dr. Rish joined AdventHealth in 2023 and draws on her wealth of prior experience at The Cleveland Clinic as an experience leader and licensed clinical psychologist.
Dawn Robbins. System Associate Vice President of Patient Experience for Baptist Health System (Louisville, Ky.). Ms. Robbins has elevated patient experience across Baptist Health’s 400-plus points of care by architecting a strategic, measurable framework rooted in collaboration, cultural transformation and service excellence. Her leadership of the tiered performance structure drove systemwide gains, increasing the medical group composite rank from the 51st to the 84th percentile and pushing the overall system into the top quartile nationally. Ms. Robbins also authored and deployed a five-year enterprise patient experience strategy that rapidly aligned practices and improved patient outcomes. A U.S. Air Force veteran with more than 25 years of experience in healthcare operations, including her tenure at Press Ganey, she combines tactical insight with servant leadership.
Marianne Rowan-Braun. Chief Patient Experience Officer for UCLA Health (Los Angeles). With over 30 years of leadership experience, Ms. Rowan-Braun leads UCLA Health’s patient experience and engagement programs with a focus on compassion, inclusivity and excellence. Her initiatives have embedded kindness and advocacy into clinical routines, including placing “Time with You” chairs in every room and introducing language proficiency badge backers for bilingual staff. She has been instrumental in fostering a culture that actively addresses issues such as sexual harassment while prioritizing the wellbeing of both patients and team members. Under her leadership, UCLA Health has earned top national rankings from U.S. News & World Report and prestigious recognitions from Vizient, Newsweek and Forbes for quality, equity and workplace culture. Previously, she held senior roles at Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical Center and Maryland Ronald McDonald House, further shaping her comprehensive approach to patient advocacy. Ms. Rowan-Braun will retire in July 2025.
Tracy Saula. Senior Vice President and Chief Product and Experience Officer for Highmark Health (Pittsburgh). Ms. Saula is Highmark Health’s senior vice president and chief product and experience officer. In her role, she leads teams that develop health insurance products and solutions designed to manage or improve physical, mental and social health, thus optimizing the care experience for both customers and clinicians. Her primary focus is addressing the barriers clinicians face and driving the creation of a transformative digital clinical experience. She is also responsible for identifying the right vendor partners and working with payers, providers, technology innovators and community organizations to co-create innovative solutions. Currently, Ms. Saula is leading a push for the organization to become product-led, which will shift the focus externally to patients, the retail experience, differentiation, responsible risk-taking and an expanded view of outcomes. One of her primary accomplishments includes launching “My Highmark”, a member portal and app integrating care navigation, virtual health, personalized care plans, bill payment, and cost transparency in a single sign-on experience. On the clinical side, Ms. Saula is shifting clinicians towards a single, interoperable experience through a gold carding program for high performing providers, more automated utilization management tools, a new provider portal, a provider resource center, and much more. Thanks in large part to her efforts, Highmark is consistently ranked the No. 1 payer based on clinician net promoter scores in all of its markets.
Eugene Scioscia, Jr., MD. Chief Experience Officer of Allegheny Health Network (Pittsburgh). Dr. Scioscia, who has been part of Allegheny Health Network and its family of hospitals for approximately three decades, currently serves as the system’s chief experience officer. Under his leadership, the patient experience office is building a systemwide culture of service excellence and superior patient communication. At the network leadership level, Dr. Scioscia also continues to serve as vice chairman of clinical operations for the obstetrics and gynecology department. He also continues to maintain his gynecology practice. He is past president of medical staff at AHN’s West Penn Hospital and previously held leadership roles at Allegheny General Hospital as well.
Amy Searls. Chief Experience Officer of Prime Healthcare (Ontario, Calif.). Since stepping into her role in 2020, Ms. Searls has transformed the experience landscape across Prime Healthcare’s 14-state network of 51 hospitals, over 360 outpatient locations, and more than 57,000 employees and affiliated physicians. Under her leadership, the experience department encompasses patient, employee and physician experience, spiritual care services and volunteer services. She champions the caring communication model grounded in the “Theory of Human Caring”, which has driven measurable improvements in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and emergency department Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores across the organization. In addition, Ms. Searls leads employee experience initiatives that have meaningfully increased engagement and bolstered Prime Healthcare’s reputation as an employer of choice. She has prioritized mental health and wellbeing via the development of a wellness-focused mobile app for all Prime employees, leadership education and various wellness events.
Hillery Smith Shay. Chief Marketing and Experience Officer and Senior Vice President of Communications for Children’s Minnesota (Minneapolis and St. Paul). Ms. Shay first joined Children’s Minnesota in 2021 as vice president of marketing and communications, then moved into her expanded role in August 2024. She is responsible for defining and building an organizationwide experience strategy and providing strategic direction for organizational marketing and communications. She established an experience framework and five domains of experience — clinical, human, environmental, brand and digital — to define the organization’s 10-year vision of differentiating on experience. She recently established an experience council to enhance the system culture through education and expertise, with the goal of becoming the governance structure for all experience-driven projects. Ms. Shay brings nearly 25 years of leadership experience, with a proven track record of success leading national and global public health campaigns and marketing initiatives. Before joining Children’s Minnesota, she served in leadership roles at Abbott Labs, leading professional education, marketing, communications and scientific congress strategy. She also served as a journalist and team leader for over 10 years at Associated Press and Baltimore Sun.
Alison Wilde Soileau, PhD. Vice President of Patient Experience and Service Excellence at Ochsner Health (New Orleans). Dr. Soileau works in patient experience for Ochsner, working closely with physician and executive leadership to oversee the coaching, analytics, patient and provider advocacy, chaplaincy, volunteers, guest services and language services teams. Dr. Soileau works alongside Ms. Pepitone to enhance the experience of the 38,000-plus dedicated team members and 4,700-plus employed and affiliated physicians at Ochsner Health, as well as all patients at 46 hospitals and 370-plus clinics. Previously, she served as the system’s assistant vice president of patient experience and director of market planning.
Julie Spencer Washington. Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Ms. Spencer Washington brings enterprisewide vision and strategy to Trinity Health, where she leads marketing, communications, customer experience and philanthropy across one of the nation’s largest Catholic health systems. Since joining in 2020, she has shaped national brand reputation and unified marketing strategies that support mission-aligned growth and community engagement. Her customer experience leadership centers on designing trust-building, personalized care journeys that foster lasting loyalty across diverse populations. Ms. Spencer Washington also oversees Trinity Health’s foundations, strategically aligning philanthropy with health system priorities to sustain transformative initiatives and expand impact. Prior to healthcare, she served as a chief marketing officer in the retail sector, where she scaled brands globally, boosted e-commerce and delivered award-winning campaigns. A results-driven and purpose-led executive, she is a board member of the Association of National Advertisers and an advisory board member for Velvet Suite.
Kimberly Sweeney, RN, BSN. Vice President of Patient Care Experience at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo, N.Y.). Ms. Sweeney heads the patient care experience team at Roswell Park, helping the system’s 50,000-plus patients and their loved ones navigate through a variety of supportive services spanning medical, spiritual, mental, social and survivorship care. Ms. Sweeney began her career in nursing 25 years ago as an ICU nurse at Roswell Park. She went on to work as a floor nurse on Roswell Park’s inpatient unit for leukemia and lymphoma patients, and as clinical research nurse coordinator with the leukemia team. She subsequently took on leadership roles in patient access and concierge services. Today, she helps patients and families access care and services through a wide range of initiatives, including Medical International Concierge resources, a salon that provided nearly 2,000 wigs and head coverings to patients last year, and a resource center for patients and community members that hosts 3,600 visits each year. Ms. Sweeney brings a unique perspective to her role, as both a longtime nurse and as primary caregiver for a loved one who faced cancer twice.
Lesley Wilson. Chief Experience Officer for UC San Diego Health. Ms. Wilson became UC San Diego Health’s CXO in July 2023 after spending seven years as associate CXO for the system. She originally joined the system in 2015 as director of patient and guest services. In her current role, she oversees the entire development process for initiatives and programs that aim to enhance the patient, guest and team member experience. She also implements patient feedback data and leads operational hubs related to patient and guest experience, including the Care Navigation Hub. Ms. Wilson was key to the system’s launch of the immersive Leading the Way program, which helps unify and connect system team members.
