University Hospital in NJ appoints president and CEO, and more | MED MOVES

Ed Jimenez

Ed Jimenez has been named the new president and CEO of University Hospital, New Jersey’s only public acute care hospital.

He began his new role in late December. The hospital serves Newark, the state’s largest city, and it is the principal teaching hospital for Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he’s confident Jimenez will provide the “level-headed and compassionate approach” the job requires.

“Throughout his career, he has overseen significant hospital expansions and optimized the operations of a complex organization by navigating professional partnerships, implementing creative and data-driven solutions, and maintaining the bold vision necessary to accomplish these goals,” Murphy said in a statement.

Most recently, Jimenez served as CEO of University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. He has held key leadership positions at St. Joseph’s Healthcare System and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

He succeeds Mary Maples, who had been serving as interim CEO for several months.

“I return to University Hospital with a profound appreciation for its continued commitment to the underserved communities of Newark,” Jimenez said in a statement.

“I would like to thank Mary Maples for assisting with a smooth transition, and the Board of Directors for choosing me to build upon the mission and values of University Hospital as a community-first facility dedicated to the public good,” he said. “I look forward to working with the UH team to expand the Hospital’s influence as a leading advanced care resource for the region and beyond.”

Olusegun Ishmael

MetroHealth names new COO, president of hospital division

Olusegun Ishmael has been named to a new position at MetroHealth in Cleveland.

He has been appointed to the newly created role of chief operating officer and president of the hospital division. He will begin in the post on January 16.

Ishmael now serves in a similar capacity as chief clinical operations officer at Sinai Chicago, a safety-net health system comprising four hospitals.

Airica Steed, the new president and chief executive officer of MetroHealth, worked with Ishmael at Sinai Chicago.

”In his decades of experience, Dr. Ishmael has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to caring for the underserved,” Steed said in a statement. “I am confident he will bring that same passion to MetroHealth and the Cleveland community. He understands the essential role safety-net health systems play in advancing health equity and eradicating health disparities.”

Ishmael will serve as the executive leader for MetroHealth’s hospital operations, including the main campus and The Glick Center, Community Hospitals, Behavioral Health Hospital, Rehabilitation and Correctional Medicine.

“I look forward to working with Dr. Steed and the entire MetroHealth team to elevate the already-impressive level of care they deliver every day to the Cleveland community,” Ishmael said in a statement.

“MetroHealth should not only be the most admired public system in the nation but one of the best health systems – period,” he said. “Everyone deserves access to exceptional health care, and I’m eager to work with the talented caregivers at MetroHealth to ensure that happens.”

Sowmya Viswanathan

BayCare chooses chief physician executive

BayCare CEO and President Stephanie Conners announced today that Sowmya Viswanathan has been named the new chief physician executive of BayCare in Florida.

Viswanathan began her new role starting Jan. 1, 2023. She has worked for BayCare since June as vice president and chief medical officer for BayCare's St. Joseph's, St. Joseph's Children's and St. Joseph's Women's hospitals in Tampa.

"During her time at BayCare, she has quickly established herself as an engaging, collaborative and innovative leader," Stephanie Conners, BayCare president and CEO, said in a statement.

Viswanathan has more than two decades of experience in quality care, patient safety and patient satisfaction, the system said.

Before  joining BayCare, she was the group chief medical officer for Tenet Health in Massachusetts, Tennessee and South Carolina. She was responsible for overseeing clinical service lines and leading hospital-based physician and provider services, with a focus on strategic and clinical quality alignment.

Viswanathan held leadership roles at Dartmouth Health's Accountable Care Organization, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care & Network Health, and UMass Memorial Medical Center. She also has been an instructor and program director at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health since 2018.

Renee Ford

HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast names COO

Renee Ford has been tapped to serve as the new chief operating officer of HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast.

Ford began in the new role on Dec. 26. She has over 38 years of hospital experience, and has worked within HCA Healthcare’s Gulf Coast Division for more than 25 years.

She currently serves as vice president of operations at HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball. The system said she has led successful efforts to improve patient experience and physician engagement. Ford also managed the construction of a women’s center and the expansion of the operating room.

“Renee is an experienced leader who will bring an unparalleled wealth of knowledge to her new role at Southeast,” Yasmene McDaniel, CEO of HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast, said in a statement. “She is highly skilled in operations management and has an excellent track record of leading strategic growth initiatives. I have no doubt that our facility will accomplish great things with Renee on our team.”

Amy Wykoff

NOMI Health hires new product officer

Amy Wykoff has been named the chief product officer of NOMI Health, a direct healthcare company.

The role is a new one for the Utah-based firm. Wykoff will be tasked with leading customer experience efforts and focus on developing health programs.

Before joining NOMI Health, Wykoff led health tech innovation at IBM Watson Health for over 10 years. In that role, she worked with governments and payors worldwide to design and implement products focused on supporting new models of health and social care. She also served as vice president of strategy and product management at Curam Software. Wykoff also previously served as director of product management at Oracle.

“I joined Nomi Health because I wanted to be part of the team redefining how we contract and pay for healthcare,” Wykoff said in a statement. “At the end of the day, employers and governments are the organizations floating absorbent bills for a broken system. Nomi’s direct care model opens the opportunity to change the industry.”