Mr. Hales serves as executive vice chief academic officer of administration and COO of the health sciences system at Advocate Health, where he holds strategic, operational and financial responsibility for academic functions across the enterprise. He also oversees Advocate Health’s innovation districts, including the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, N.C. and The Pearl in Charlotte, advancing research, education and innovation. Mr. Hales joined Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1996 and held multiple financial leadership roles, including assistant dean for finance, vice president and CFO of Wake Forest University Health Sciences, and vice CFO of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. In 2014, he was named vice president of academic administration and operations before being promoted to senior vice president and executive vice dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He began his current role in 2022. Over his career, Mr. Hales has been instrumental in aligning academic administration with health system strategy and integrating finance functions across major institutional transitions.
