Dr. Pendleton serves as chief physician executive for SSM Health’s St. Louis and Southern Illinois regions, providing leadership across hospitals and medical groups while overseeing regional clinical operations. He aligns physicians, clinical operations and system strategy by partnering with hospital presidents and regional executives to advance clinical integration, quality, safety, access and physician engagement across acute, ambulatory and specialty settings. Known for building trust with physicians, Dr. Pendleton has led continued medical group growth and strengthened alignment between hospital-based and ambulatory providers. His leadership emphasizes aligning incentives around quality and value, creating environments where physicians are meaningfully engaged in improving outcomes, patient experience and operational performance. He also serves on the board of the Missouri Health Value Collaborative, supporting regional efforts to improve value in healthcare delivery. Previously, Dr. Pendleton served as chief quality officer for Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care and as chief medical and quality officer for Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health, bringing deep expertise in enterprise quality strategy and clinical integration.
