Springfield, Mo.- based CoxHealth has shared plans to realign its leadership structure and operating model, effective June 1. The changes aim to unify the physician enterprise, strengthen coordination across the system and create clearer accountability at every level, according to the system.
While the changes will not affect employment, certain reporting relationships will change.
“This work is about strengthening how CoxHealth is organized to serve patients, support physicians and advanced practice providers, equip our teams and remain responsive to the communities we serve,” Max Buetow, CoxHealth president and CEO, said in a May 13 news release shared with Becker’s. “Our goal is not to change boxes on an organizational chart. We are creating clearer roles, stronger alignment, faster decision-making and better support for the people doing the work.
The restructuring focuses on three core priorities:
- Unifying the physician enterprise, including CoxHealth’s service lines, medical group and medical staff, under one “accountable physician leadership architecture.”
- Sharpening how CoxHealth’ service lines, hospitals and system services work together, establishing clearer roles and stronger internal relationships.
- Creating explicit ownership of outcomes, decisions and execution across the organization.
New physician leadership architecture:
- As chief physician executive, Tim Jones, DO, will lead accountability for employed, contracted and independent physicians. He will hold executive accountability for service line access and growth, clinical quality, physician engagement and patient experience. Dr. Jones will work with the COO to bridge clinical and operational leadership, and help drive quality and efficiency.
- Shawn Usery, MD, will become chief clinical officer, overseeing the system’s clinical standards, care model design and medical staff systems. He will define enterprise clinical pathways, protocols, and quality and safety infrastructure, align medical staff governance, credentialing, and peer review processes, and work with the senior vice president of clinical operations to resolve clinical variation.
- Brock Shamel will serve as senior vice president of service lines, taking ownership of service line execution across all CoxHealth sites and settings. He will drive access, throughput, efficiency, growth and financial performance while translating clinical standards into practical workflows, staffing models and operating routines. Mr. Shamel will partner closely with Dr. Usery to ensure clinical design is both operationally feasible and delivered consistently.
Two new system service departments are also being established:
- Integrated Care Delivery will be led by Julia Flax, MD, as vice president of integrated care. The role creates a system owner for how patients move through CoxHealth, and aligns care coordination, case management and population health.
- Ellen Hammock will serve as administrative director for physician and advanced practice provider development, which will serve as a unified home for physician and advanced practice provider career development, credentialing, recruitment and onboarding. The department will report through human resources.
Additional changes include:
- Charity Elmer will change her title from general counsel to chief legal officer.
- Andrea Elliott, vice president of finance for the CoxHealth Medical Group, will move under the corporate finance umbrella and report to CoxHealth Executive Vice President and CFO Jake McWay.
- Abby Craigmyle, vice president of corporate compliance, will add Jill Clary as administrative director.
- Jonathan Barton, administrative director of pharmacy services and Alissa Brownfield, administrative director of radiology operations, will report to Ashley Casad, president of Springfield Hospitals and senior vice president of system operations.
- Kevin Norris, administrative director of therapy services, and Amanda Ritter, administrative director of lab services, will report to William Mahoney, president of Branson (Mo.) Hospital and senior vice president of Community Hospital Group.
CoxHealth reiterated that the realignment will have no impact on employment, though some reporting relationships are changing. The system — which operates six hospitals, more than 80 clinics and five ERs, and has nearly 14,000 employees across southwest Missouri — said the changes are intended to make care feel more coordinated for patients while better supporting clinicians throughout their careers.
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