Tampa General Hospital Executive Biographies | Tampa General Hospital

JOHN D. COURIS
PRESIDENT & CEO

John D. Couris is President and CEO of Florida Health Sciences Center, which comprises an array of organizations, including Tampa General Hospital, one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit academic medical centers and research health systems, in partnership with the University of South Florida.

As a visionary leader, Couris has had continued success in building health care companies throughout the country by driving innovation, operational excellence and strategic collaborations. He is recognized for creating an organizational culture that thrives on authenticity, kindness, vulnerability and transparency, and as a champion of his team’s well-being. Couris believes that focusing on team members’ overall happiness and satisfaction drives positive outcomes for both team members and health care consumers.

Since taking the helm of Florida Health Sciences Center (Tampa General Hospital) in 2017, Couris has championed innovation. Under his leadership, the organization was the first health care provider in the state of Florida to partner with GE Healthcare to launch CareComm, a care coordination center using artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and industrial engineering to improve safety, quality and cost. Couris has helped launch TGH Ventures, a venture capital fund dedicated to driving a culture of innovation within the organization while supporting early-stage startups and direct investments. Couris also led Florida Health Sciences Center (Tampa General) and the region through the pandemic, collaborating with hospital systems statewide to improve health outcomes related to COVID-19.

Today, Couris is executing Tampa General’s largest Master Facility Plan in the hospital’s history, a $550 million capital commitment to bring the most advanced technology and innovative care through the creation of a growing medical and research district in downtown Tampa. This district, driven by Couris and inspired by renowned medical districts in the nation’s greatest cities, houses an ever-growing hub of world-class clinical care, academics, research and biotechnology anchored by Tampa General and the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Before joining Florida Health Sciences Center (Tampa General), Couris served as President and CEO of Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, for eight years. There, he forged partnerships with notable institutions such as The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, creating robust service lines and elevating the hospital to a regional medical center. Couris served in various executive leadership roles at BayCare Health System for 10 years before his move to Jupiter. He began his career at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers.

Not only a nationally recognized leader in the health care industry, Couris also devotes significant time to serving his community and professional organizations. He is the Chair of the Board of The Florida Aquarium and serves on the boards of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Council of 100, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, the New Hampton School, and the PGA TOUR Valspar Championship. In addition, he is a member of the Florida Council of 100, the Young Presidents’ Organization and many national health care associations. Recently, Couris completed his appointment as Vice Chair to the Florida Council of 100 Healthy Florida Committee and the Florida Hospital Association Political Advisory Committee.

Couris is the recipient of multiple awards, including being named to the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s “Power 100” list of Tampa Bay’s most influential leaders for 2022 and 2023 and the Journal’s “25 People to Watch in 2022.” He was also one of Modern Healthcare’s 2022 class of Top Innovators, which recognizes leaders instituting innovation and leading transformative programs that improve care by achieving measurable results and contributing to their organization's clinical and financial goals. Couris was recently recognized as a top health care CEO in the U.S., according to the Becker’s Hospital Review 2023 “60 Health System CEO Influencers,” and as a national health care leader with his inclusion on the Becker’s 2023 “Great Leaders in Healthcare” list.

Couris was honored with the 2022 Tampa Bay Chamber H.L. Culbreath Jr. Profile in Leadership Award, and the 2022 Dean’s Award from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. He has also been named to Florida Trend’s “Florida 500” list of most influential business leaders in the state, INFLUENCE magazine’s "150 most influential people in Florida politics" for 2022 and 2023, City & State Florida’s “Health Care Power 100” (#4 in 2022), and Florida Politics’ “Influence 100” list of most influential people in Florida politics. Couris was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame in 2023.

Couris is a graduate of Boston University and holds a Master of Science in Management from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He holds a doctorate in business administration, management sciences from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, where he now is an Assistant Professor and Research Fellow. His dissertation examined the impact of the practice of authentic leadership on teams and organizations.

Couris is a frequent contributor to Becker’s Hospital Review among other publications. Most recently, he is the author of "Care Coordination: Untying the Gordian Knot of the American Healthcare System,” published in Modern Healthcare in April 2023. Couris is a frequent contributor to Becker’s Hospital Review, among other publications.

Couris resides in Tampa, Florida, with his wife, two children, and several beloved pets.

Headshot of Scott Arnold

SCOTT ARNOLD
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF DIGITAL & INNOVATION OFFICER

Scott Arnold is the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Innovation Officer at Tampa General Hospital, a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system. 

Arnold leads the implementation of all technology systems across the organization to ensure the collection, maintenance, safety and privacy of patient records. He joined Tampa General Hospital in 2010 to manage the conversion of its electronic medical record system - the largest technology implementation in the hospital’s history.

Prior to joining Tampa General, Scott served as a vice president for Mercy Health in Saint Louis, Mo., and held leadership positions with Daleen Technologies, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. Scott serves on the board of directors for the Tampa Bay Health Information Exchange and is a member of the Epic Connect Governing Council and the O’Neil Center’s Health Informatics Advisory Council.

Scott earned a master’s degree from Washington University’s School of Engineering, a master’s degree from Webster University’s School of Business and Technology, a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University’s College of Applied Science and he’s accredited by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) as a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO).

Headshot of Stacey Brandt

STACEY BRANDT
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Stacey Brandt is the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Tampa General Hospital, a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Brandt is responsible for the organization’s communications and marketing efforts. A veteran of the health care industry, Brandt brings nearly 20 years of health care strategy, business development, marketing and communications expertise to her role at Tampa General. Prior to joining Tampa General, Brandt spent 17 years in hospital administration at Jupiter Medical Center before serving in the role of vice president of marketing and strategic planning.

Brandt is a member of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. She received her bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications with a minor in business administration and management.

jennifer crabtree headshot

JENNIFER CRABTREE
VP, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & CHIEF OF STAFF, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT & CEO

Jennifer Crabtree serves as the Vice President of Corporate Communications and Chief of Staff for the Office of the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. With nearly a decade of experience in health care marketing, communications, and corporate strategy, Jennifer is recognized as an invaluable member of the organization’s senior leadership team, an integrator in the organization’s rapid growth and transformation, as well as a dynamic strategist and committed team player.

Since joining Tampa General in 2019, first serving as Director of Marketing and Consumerism and then Chief of Staff before assuming her current role in 2023, Jennifer has experienced a trajectory of advancement leading to increased levels of responsibility and scope of work. In her current role, Jennifer’s primary focus is driving strategic communications and partnership initiatives across the enterprise to position Tampa General as an industry-leading research and academic-based health system and elevate the unique expertise of the organization’s senior leaders.

Jennifer facilitates the CEO’s vision for the organization through her leadership of strategic projects, such as the development of the Tampa Medical & Research District, which is part of the health system’s historic $550 million capital commitment to bring the most advanced technology and innovation to the region. Launched officially in 2023 as a partnership between Tampa General and the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, the District houses a growing hub of world-class clinical care, academics, research, and biotechnology anchored by TGH and the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and will, upon completion, generate a total economic impact of $8.3 billion annually for the State of Florida.

Jennifer oversees all C-suite thought leadership positioning and, under her leadership, Tampa General has earned national recognition through prestigious awards programs, speaking engagements and establishing strong relationships with media. Jennifer also manages all internal, external and legislative communications to effectively strengthen the health system’s brand and relationships with stakeholders. Her approach to internal communications and emphasis on organizational culture has resulted in an increase in team member engagement scores year over year, which now sit at the 87th percentile.

Prior to joining Tampa General, Jennifer served as the Manager of Marketing and Consumerism at Jupiter Medical Center where she led the organization's marketing, public relations, and community outreach strategies as the region's only independent health system. In this capacity, she spearheaded the website redesign project for 10+ domains, led the development of consumer segmentation personas as well as drove the adoption and implementation of a call center and customer relationship management.

In addition to her work at Tampa General, Jennifer is an active leader in the Tampa Bay community. She is a proud member of the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Tampa Class of 2023, serves on the boards of OnBikes and the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Area YMCA and is a member of the Young Professionals Board of Embarc Collective.

Jennifer holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus in marketing strategy from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Florida State University. Jennifer currently resides in Tampa with her two daughters.

 

RON DONCASTER
INTERIM CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Ron Doncaster is the Interim Chief Operating Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the nation’s leading academic health systems and the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Doncaster, who joined Tampa General in April 2024, is responsible for overseeing all clinical and operational strategies, including managing partnerships with key constituents. He is a solutions-focused leader who uniquely balances adaptability and decisiveness to achieve clinical operations, service and support, strategic planning and execution, budget and cost control, and continuous improvement.

In addition to his current role with Tampa General, Doncaster is the principal owner of Hospital Operations Insights, LLC, a consultancy based in Massachusetts that specializes in hospital support service operations and management.

Doncaster brings more than two decades of health care leadership experience to Tampa General. Before starting Hospital Operations Insights, LLC, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for nearly two years at Catholic Medical Center, a nonprofit acute-care hospital and with 330 licensed beds and an affiliated medical staff of more than 400 providers and over 3,000 employees, it is one of New Hampshire’s largest health systems. In this role, Doncaster directed daily organization-wide clinical and support services, including oversight of compliance, Outpatient Rehab, Imaging, The Pain Clinic and the Wound Center. He led the development of programs for operations improvement, quality care delivery, revenue enhancement and volume growth. He also innovated primary care processes to drive efficient workflows and continuous process improvement.

For more than five years, Doncaster served as Vice President of Operations and Performance Management at Steward Health Care System, where he directed system-wide operations for Facilities, Biomedical Engineering, Environmental Health, Safety and Security for Steward’s 35 community-based hospitals in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Utah, Arizona and Alaska.

Doncaster’s other previous leadership roles have included working as the Vice President of Operations of St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Chief Operating Officer at Lynn Community Health Center and Director of Operations Management Services at Newton-Wellesley Hospital among others.

Doncaster earned a Master of Science in Management, with a concentration in Health Care Administration, from Lesley University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Fitchburg State University. He is an Advisory Board Fellow and a United States Army National Guard veteran.

 

PEGGY DUGGAN, MD
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF PHYSICIAN EXECUTIVE & CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Peggy Duggan, MD, FACS, is the Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive and Chief Medical Officer at the Florida Health Sciences Center (FHSC), which comprises an array of organizations, including Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit academic health systems, in partnership with the University of South Florida. Duggan also has a collaborative faculty appointment in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Department of Surgery.

Since joining Tampa General in 2021, Duggan has overseen a multitude of functions related to physicians and patient care for the academic health system, which includes nearly 14,000 team members and providers.

Duggan is also responsible for the conceptualization and implementation of many innovative programs across Tampa General — impacting both patient and team member safety, enhancing world-class care and supporting a compassionate culture. In 2022, Duggan initiated TGH Schwartz Rounds, an international program using research-based strategies, tools and support to provide caregivers with resources to create and sustain a culture of compassion. During regularly scheduled times, physicians, nurses, social workers, health care professionals and psychologists openly and honestly discuss the social and emotional issues they face in caring for patients and their families. The benefits of TGH Schwartz Rounds include strengthening caregiver-patient relationships, improving caregiver support and boosting caregiver resiliency.

Additionally, as a leader in Tampa General’s initiative to become a certified Collaborative High Reliability Organization®, Duggan was instrumental in the Tampa General Hospital becoming the first academic health system and Level I trauma center to receive two key qualifications — Collaborative Just Culture Program® and Reliability Management Team™. The qualifications are the initial steps in the process of achieving Collaborative High Reliability Organization certification. Organizations worldwide, from airlines to major utilities, have achieved high reliability by demonstrating they have maintained high levels of safety, quality and efficiency over an extended period, and health care organizations have just started to take this approach to achieving safety and improving quality.

Under Duggan’s leadership, Tampa General has also revolutionized its approach to sepsis management, creating an early warning system that helps with improved intervention for this life-threatening complication of an infection. As a result, TGH showed a 12.6% reduction in sepsis mortality, accounting for more than 200 lives saved annually. Through this ongoing work, TGH has developed pathways to get patients home from the hospital in a timelier manner.

In honor of career successes and dedication to patient safety and clinical innovation, Duggan was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review on its 2023 “Hospital and Health Systems Chief Medical Officers to Know” list, which highlights clinical leaders playing a crucial role in directing their organization's forward momentum while serving their patients and communities. In 2024, Duggan was honored as one of the esteemed recipients of the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Businesswoman of the Year recognition. Duggan was one of 30 of the city’s most dynamic and influential businesswomen to make the prestigious 2024 list.

Before joining TGH, Duggan spent more than 15 years in the Mass General Brigham Health System (formerly Partners Healthcare). During that time, she practiced as a breast surgeon and medical director of the breast center and ultimately became the chief medical officer for the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. In her role as CMO, Duggan worked at both the hospital and the system level on a variety of operational, clinical and strategic activities. She held several other leadership positions while there, including medical director of credentialing and president of the medical staff.

Duggan earned a medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston University.

She has completed the Brigham Leadership Program at Harvard Business School and has trained at the Association of American Medical Colleges CMO Leadership Academy.

Castle Connelly has listed Duggan as one of America’s Top Doctors since 2014.

Duggan also serves in an advisory capacity with many organizations, including the Vizient Chief Medical Executive Steering Committee, the American Hospital Association Southeast Region Policy Board (member) and the Florida Chamber Health Council (member).

Headshot of Wendi Goodson-Celerin

WENDI GOODSON-CELERIN, DNP, APRN, NE-BC
SR. VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF NURSING EXECUTIVE

Wendi Goodson-Celerin is the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Goodson-Celerin is responsible for leading nursing services across TGH with a focus on further developing cross-functional collaboration among nursing teams across hospital departments.

Goodson-Celerin joined TGH in 1988 as a clinical nurse and has served many roles over the past three decades, including SVP and Interim Chief Nursing Officer; Vice President of Patient Services; Vice President of Neuroscience, Orthopaedics and Clinical Education; Director of Acute Surgical Inpatient, Critical Care and Clinical Education; Director of Women’s & Children’s Services and Clinical Education; Director of Nursing Education; and Clinical Nurse Manager. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice and both her Master and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of South Florida.

Goodson-Celerin has been recognized with several industry honors, including the Excellence in Management Leadership Award (2004), the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award (2009) and the Excellence in Education Award from the Florida Organization of Nurse Executives (2014). Goodson-Celerin earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in nursing at the University of South Florida. She holds a doctorate in nursing practice and is certified with the ANCC Nurse Executive Board.

Headshot of Qualenta Forrest 

QUALENTA KIVETT, JD
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF PEOPLE AND TALENT OFFICER

Qualenta Kivett, JD, is the Executive Vice President and Chief People and Talent Officer of Tampa General Hospital, a nationally renowned non-profit academic health system.

Kivett is responsible for leading Tampa General Hospital’s Human Resources Department with a focus on the voice of team members and an evidence-based strategy to provide support and enhance engagement.

Prior to joining Tampa General, Kivett served as Market Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer for CHI St. Vincent, a regional health network in Arkansas. Kivett previously worked at Medical University South Carolina as an Associate Chief People Officer.

Kivett earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock-William H. Bowen School of Law after receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees in Spanish and criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

 

CHARLES J. LOCKWOOD, MD, MHCM
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, USF HEALTH, DEAN, USF HEALTH MORSANI COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

Dr. Charles Lockwood is Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), the Executive Vice President of USF Health, and Dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM). He is a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Public Health.

As EVP of USF Health, he oversees the University of South Florida's colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health as well the schools of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and Graduate Studies. As MCOM Dean, he is responsible for the medical school's educational and research operations, and additionally leads the 900-provider faculty group practice. Since 2014, Dr. Lockwood has overseen a transformation of USF Health, dramatically increasing NIH Awards, and patient safety, satisfaction, and outcomes as well as greatly enhancing student competitiveness and academic performance, lifting the medical school's ranking on the U.S. News & World Report from 80 to 48 out of 154 allopathic medical schools. In addition, he helped obtain approval and funding to opening the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in Water Street with the support of TGH. Working with TGH CEO John Couris, he has strengthened the affiliation between USF Health and TGH through a substantial integration of clinical services.

As a clinician, Dr. Lockwood has delivered over 5,000 infants, cared for large numbers of medically complicated pregnancies, and been named to national and regional "Best Doctors" lists annually since 1995. He serves on the Florida Medical Association (FMA) Board of Governors, on the Executive Committee of the FMA political action committee, and on the Executive Committee of the Hillsborough County Medical Association. He has served on or chaired multiple committees of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and receive ACOG's Public Service Award for his "enduring commitment to women's health."

Dr. Lockwood's research has been supported by multiple NIH and March of Dimes grants. He is credited with leading the research team that discovered the first predictive test for preterm birth — fetal fibronectin. He has chaired and/or served on multiple NIH study sections and FDA committees, authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, and another 300 invited papers, textbook chapters and editorials. He has also authored or co-authored five monographs and co-edited seven major textbooks, three with multiple editions. He is the Obstetrics Section editor for UpToDate and was the Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Ob/Gyn for 20 years, where his editorials garnered six national publishing awards.

Dr. Lockwood is past president of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI) and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. His research has led to multiple awards including the SRI's Distinguished Scientist Award, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the NICHD-Frontiers in Reproduction Beacon award. Dr. Lockwood is an elected member of the Sigma Xi and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine).

Previously, Dr. Lockwood was Dean at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and chaired Ob/Gyn departments at Yale and New York University. At the former institution, he chaired the Yale Medical Group Board of Governors and at the latter institution, he served as interim director of the Kaplan NCI-designated Cancer Center. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's in Healthcare Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. He served his Ob/Gyn residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at Yale and a post-doctoral research fellowship at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in NYC.

 mark moseley md mha cpe headshot

MARK MOSELEY, MD, MHA, FACEP
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT &
PRESIDENT, USF + TAMPA GENERAL PHYSICIANS

Dr. Moseley is the first president of the newly formed academic medical group, USF Tampa General Physicians. Dr. Moseley joins USF Tampa General Physicians after having served at USF Health for over five years, most recently as the chief clinical officer for USF Health, associate vice president for USF Health, and vice dean for Clinical Affairs in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. He will retain his academic titles and teaching roles at USF Health.

In his new role at the helm of USF Tampa General Physicians, Moseley will lead the approximately 1,400 team members who have joined USF Tampa General Physicians and serve and support physicians employed by USF Health and TGMG, providing practice infrastructure, clinical management, and related operational and administrative support services. Moseley will also work with private practice physicians on staff at Tampa General to offer purchased services and management services through the new organization.

Moseley joined USF Health in January 2017 to oversee the clinical operations of the faculty practice group and all clinical care that takes place at USF Health, build strategic hospital partnerships, and lead other key areas, including quality, safety, risk, and patient experience. He is also a professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Morsani College of Medicine and holds a courtesy appointment as professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management within the USF Health College of Public Health. He also is a member of the medical staff at Tampa General.

An Ohio native and alumni of the Ohio State University College of Medicine and College of Public Health, Moseley is the first graduate of OSU’s combined five-year MD/Master of Health Administration dual degree program. He completed a residency in emergency medicine at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., serving as chief resident in his final year of training. Moseley came to USF from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, where he served in numerous leadership capacities for 12 years. Moseley was a core academic faculty member, medical director of the Emergency Department, and vice chairman for Clinical Affairs in OSU’s Department of Emergency Medicine. His senior leadership roles at OSU were as assistant chief operating officer, medical director for Patient Flow Management, and medical director for Utilization Management.

 

MARK RUNYON 
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Mark A. Runyon is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the Florida Health Sciences Center (FHSC), which comprises an array of organizations, including Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit academic health systems, in partnership with the University of South Florida.

In his role, Runyon leads and oversees all financial plans for Tampa General as the academic health system continues to develop its complete system of care for the community, region and state. He works collaboratively with the president and CEO, board, senior leaders and the entire TGH team to create a continuously improving atmosphere of safety, innovation, and financial stability and integrity while finding new ways to enhance financial performance and operations efficiency. Runyon played an instrumental role in Tampa General’s acquisition of the Bravera Health network – now TGH North – as he led all financial aspects of the transaction, including obtaining debt financing, implementing core financial systems, and transitioning the acquisitions to TGH accounting, payroll, accounts payable, decision support, managed care contracting and reimbursement. With the addition of TGH North, Tampa General’s academic health system now encompasses six existing and under-construction hospitals, more than 150 care locations and nearly 14,000 team members and providers.

Since joining Tampa General in 2020, Runyon has been recognized nationally for his excellence in financial strategy, including being named by Becker’s Hospital Review to its “Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know” and “Academic Medical Center Chief Financial Officers to Know” lists for 2023. Those accolades followed Runyon and Tampa General President and CEO John Couris’ inclusion on the Becker’s Hospital Review 2022 and 2023 “Highly Successful CEO-CFO Duos” lists, which recognized their leadership and for driving innovation to boost quality and lower the cost of health care.

With more than 30 years of experience in health care financial leadership, Runyon holds an impressive track record of recognizing opportunities and delivering results. Prior to joining TGH, Runyon served in senior financial leadership positions at Intermountain Health and Inova Health System.

Runyon earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Headshot of Abraham Schwarzberg 

ABRAHAM SCHWARZBERG
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF OF ONCOLOGY & PRESIDENT OF THE TAMPA GENERAL PROVIDER NETWORK (TGPN)
VP, CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, TGH-USF HEALTH JOINT OFFICE OF CLINICAL RESEARCH

Abraham B. Schwarzberg, MD is the Executive Vice President, Chief of Oncology and President of the Tampa General Provider Network (TGPN) at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Schwarzberg brings over 17 years of experience to his role. Prior to joining TGH, Schwarzberg was a member of the clinical staff at Jupiter Medical Center (JMC) from 2009 until 2014, when he was promoted to vice president and chief of oncology. In addition to his current role at TGH, Schwarzberg serves as president and managing member of the Cancer Center of South Florida, which he founded in 2008.

Schwarzberg is an associate member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, an advisory board member for the Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation in West Palm Beach, Fla., and a board member for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Palm Beach, Fla. He was recognized by both Tufts University and Harvard Medical School in 2003 and 2004 for their Excellence in Teaching Awards.

 

STEVE SHORT
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND MARKET PRESIDENT, TGH NORTH

Steve Short is the Executive Vice President and Market President, TGH North.

Short brings over three decades of health care experience to TGH in his role of EVP and Market President. Prior to joining the TGH team in 2000, Short served as Assistant Vice President of Finance at the University of Louisville Hospital, where he eventually took on the role of Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer. Before joining the health care industry, he worked as a staff accountant for the State of Arizona.

Short is a graduate of Arizona State University and received a Bachelor of Science in accounting. He also received his Master of Business Administration from Indiana University in 2000.

Headshot of Adam Smith

ADAM SMITH
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF AMBULATORY CARE OFFICER

Adam Smith is the Executive Vice President & Chief Ambulatory Care Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

In his current role as Vice President of Ambulatory Services, Smith is responsible for inpatient and outpatient radiology, urgent care services, Telehealth, the primary care physician network, the ambulatory surgery center and our ambulatory buildings. He also executes the strategic plan related to the expansion of the ambulatory network and is responsible for the access strategy, the coordination of care and the patient experience in our ambulatory platform. 

Smith came to TGH with over 19 years of experience in both hospital and ambulatory operations. Prior to joining TGH, he served as director of ambulatory imaging and diagnostic for Pinellas and West Pasco at BayCare, Ambulatory Division and manager of medical imaging at St. Anthony’s Hospital.

 

PETER CHANG, MD
SR. VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFFICER

Dr. Peter Chang is the Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH). He is responsible for designing forward-looking healthcare strategies to improve clinical quality, efficiency and care coordination while decreasing the total cost of care.

As part of this mission, Dr. Chang led the design and implementation of TGH’s Hospital at Home program. Prior to his role in design, he created and operated TGH’s Clinical Command Center focused on system-wide efficiency and quality (CareComm) and served as an assistant professor of medicine in the department of Hospital Medicine.

Dr. Chang earned his Doctor of Medicine at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and he completed his Bachelor of Science in biology at the University of South Florida. He is a board member of MORE Health Inc. and the Tampa General Medical Group. He has been honored with several industry awards and presents regularly on the topics of healthcare innovation and technology. 

Headshot of Robin DeLaVergne

ROBIN DELAVERGNE
SR. VICE PRESIDENT, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Robin DeLaVergne is the Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Tampa General Hospital. She previously served as executive director of the Tampa General Hospital Foundation and senior vice president of development Tampa General Hospital.

DeLaVergne serves on the Tampa Downtown Partnership Board of Directors, and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Former Florida Gov. Rick Scott appointed DeLaVergne as a Board Member for the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County. She is a member of USF Women in Leadership and Philanthropy, TGH Foundation Women’s Leadership Council, Florida Nonprofit Alliance, USF Town & Gown, and Leadership Tampa Alumni. She has served as an Honorary Commander for the 6th Air Mobility Group at MacDill Air Force Base. DeLaVergne is a past Chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, past President of the Junior League of Tampa, past Chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership’s CEO Direct Program, and a past member of the Board of Directors for Metropolitan Ministries and the United Way. She received the 2012 Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, the 2017 Dottie Berger MacKinnon Woman of Influence Award from the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the 2017 Sustainer of the Year from the Junior League of Tampa and Leadership Tampa Alumni’s 2017 Parke Wright III Award.

DeLaVergne is a graduate of the University of South Florida, where she received a Master of Science in audiology. 

Headshot of Laura Haubner 

LAURA HAUBNER, MD
SR. VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF QUALITY OFFICER

Dr. Laura Young Haubner is the Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Dr. Haubner brings two decades of health care experience to TGH. In 2000, she joined TGH as medical director of neonatal ECMO, where she still sees patients. Dr. Haubner has held a variety of positions at TGH’s partner medical school, the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine, including assistant professor of pediatrics, director and founder of the Team Education and Multidisciplinary Simulation (TEAMS) Center, medical director of virtual patient care center (VPCC) and the center for advanced medical learning and stimulation (CAMLS), co-course director of doctoring and associate professor of pediatrics.

Dr. Haubner earned her Bachelor of Science in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University. She received her medical degree from UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Haubner holds advisory positions on the Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women Advisory Counsel and the Tampa Bay Health Advisory Board. She is a committee member of the Vizient Chief Quality Officer Network Steering Committee, the Clinical Documentation Oversight Committee, the Code Blue Committee and the Critical Care Steering committee at TGH

 frann leppla headshot

FRANN M. LEPPLA
SR. VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF PHILANTHROPY OFFICER, TGH FOUNDATION

Frann Leppla believes that world-class healthcare has the greatest ability to improve lives and strongly advocates for philanthropic investment as the fuel for health systems to provide such care. Joining the Tampa General Hospital Foundation in 2018, Leppla brings over 12 years of both for-profit and non-profit executive leadership to her role. As the Senior Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer, she is a dynamic leader who directs sustainable fundraising initiatives to benefit the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) system and its patients.

Before joining the Foundation, Frann served as the Senior Director of Development at USF Health, helping the University of South Florida reach $1.1 billion in capital for its “Unstoppable” campaign. From 2011 to 2016, she was the Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives for the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida where she led a $300 million campaign as part of the University’s $1.72 billion capital campaign, “Florida Tomorrow”. With expertise working with both health care and higher education organizations, Leppla offers a unique perspective, especially valuable within academic medical centers such as TGH. Leppla came to non-profit advancement following a highly successful 16-year sales and sales leadership career in private industry.

The TGH hospital system is currently undergoing the most transformational period in its history as it expands the depth and breadth of its services, increases its geographic footprint, and assembles new alliances. Under Leppla’s hand, the TGH Foundation has launched its first ever fully comprehensive campaign --- ELEVATING EXCELLENCE: Innovating Tomorrow’s TGH --- which is a five-year, $100M initiative that is the catalyst to build modern and technologically advanced facilities, programmatic support for key strategic priorities, and system-wide initiatives which will further advance the mission of the institution.

Outside working hours, Leppla enjoys spending time with her husband, Rob, her two adult children, Mason, and Asher, and her four grandchildren. She received her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from the University of North Florida.

Headshot of Sherri Lewman

SHERRI LEWMAN
SR. VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERPRISE IMAGING

 Sherri Lewman, MHA, CNMT, is the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Imaging for Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system. With her expertise in both strategy and operations, Lewman is responsible for further integrating Tampa General and Tower Radiology at an enterprise level and overseeing Tampa General’s dynamic growth of outpatient imaging services throughout the state.

Lewman previously served as Vice President of Service Lines at Tampa General Hospital. In this role, Lewman was responsible for the growth and development of key service lines at TGH, including orthopaedic, neuroscience, infectious diseases, ear, nose and throat, urology,
heart and vascular, transplant, and women’s and children’s services. She worked closely with the medical directors and service line administrators to establish service lines and assess, plan, develop, implement and execute strategies and tactics to improve service and outcomes and to achieve continuous business growth for optimal financial performance.

Lewman brought over two decades of experience to her initial role at Tampa General Hospital. Prior to joining TGH, Lewman worked at Jupiter Medical Center (JMC) for nine years, serving as Director of Imaging, VP of Ambulatory Care prior to her position as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, and Marketing. In that role, she led organization-wide strategy, affiliations and partnerships, provider relations and marketing communications. Lewman is a Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist (CNMT) and holds a master’s degree in health administration from Florida Atlantic University.

Headshot of Laurie Slater 

LAURIE SLATER
SR. VICE PRESIDENT MARCOMM & PHYSICIAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Laurie Slater is Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications, and Physician Business Development at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Slater has learned to leverage her entrepreneurial spirit and marketing savvy to increase brand recognition, market share and bottom-line revenue for her clients and employers. With 25 years of experience, Slater has an adept ability to build teams that successfully execute strategic sales and MarComm plans.

During her tenure with BayCare Health System, Slater held several managerial, operational, and business development positions before starting her own consulting business. It was during this next decade where she provided customer-based solutions focused on ROI models growing the business for numerous physician practices, hospitals, and health systems across the country. Simultaneously, she launched a unique software product for sales management that further showcased her ability to assess and implement innovative practices.

Slater is a certified corporate trainer and national speaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Emory University and a master’s degree in business administration.

 

DALE AGGEN
VICE PRESIDENT, MANAGED CARE

Known for his expertise in complex hospital and physician negotiations, operations, finance, and administration of health plans and provider groups, Dale joined TGH in 2018 as Director of Managed Care and was promoted to Senior Director of Managed Care in 2021.

Dale is a proven leader and has brought motivational and cross-functional team building to the Managed Care department. Additionally, he possesses strong experience in Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA Insurance Exchange, as well as strategic planning.

In his six years, Dale’s accomplishments at TGH have included negotiating value-added managed care contracts for TGH, TGH Rehabilitation Hospital, the TGH Transplant Institute, Tampa General Medical Group (TGMG), and other entities within our academic health system. He has successfully coordinated our Medicare Shared Savings program, an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) comprised of TGH, TGMG, USF Health, and community physician groups, which has seen shared savings rewards of over $1.5 million in each year since 2019. In 2022, he was awarded the ACO Innovator of the Year from Caravan Health.

Prior to TGH, his 30 years of experience included leadership roles at such managed care companies as Humana, Florida Blue and a for-profit health care system.

Dale holds a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in Norman and a bachelor’s degree from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He serves on the Advisory Board of St. Peter Claver Catholic School, Tampa.

Headshot of Mark Campbell 

MARK CAMPBELL
VICE PRESIDENT, SUPPLY CHAIN

Mark Campbell is the Vice President of Supply Chain at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Campbell has been serving as vice president of supply chain at TGH since 2006. In his position, Campbell is responsible for all aspects of the supply chain including, strategic sourcing, distribution, value analysis and minority business inclusion. Prior to this role, Campbell served as director of health information management at TGH.

Before joining TGH, Campbell was as a senior associate at KPMG LLP and a manager of health information management at Florida State Hospital. 

Campbell received his Bachelor of Science in health information management from the University of Tennessee and Master of Business Administration and health administration from the University of Florida. He is a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and a certified materials and resource professional with the Association of Healthcare Resource and Materials Management.

STEVEN CHEW
VICE PRESIDENT, SERVICE LINES

Steven Chew is the Vice President of Service Lines for Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system. Chew is responsible for the growth and development of key service lines at TGH, including orthopaedic, neuroscience, parathyroid and thyroid, heart and vascular, and women’s and children’s services. Chew works closely with medical directors and senior administrators in charge of those service lines to assess, plan, develop, implement and execute strategies and tactics to improve service and outcomes and to achieve continuous business growth for optimal financial performance.

Prior to his current role, Chew served as the Senior Administrator of the neuroscience, orthopedics and infectious diseases service lines, focusing on developing and executing the vision, strategic plan, relationships and growth initiatives for these service lines.

Chew joined TGH in 2008 in Materials Management, and quickly became involved with operations through creating relationships and connections with physicians, clinicians, and bedside team members. He worked his way up through Surgical Services and then into hospital operations as the Director of Operations Management, and then into service line leadership. Chew has excelled in his 13-plus years at TGH at building relationships, collaborating with his colleagues, understanding operations and strategy, effectively implementing new strategies, and successfully leading his areas of responsibility. Chew graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in biology and organic chemistry and holds a Master of Health Administration from the University of South Florida.

Headshot of Anthony Escobio

ANTHONY ESCOBIO
VICE PRESIDENT, REVENUE CYCLE

Anthony Escobio is the Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

With more than 24 years of experience in health care finance, Escobio oversees revenue management, patient financial services, and healthcare IT solutions implementation for Tampa General Hospital.

Escobio is an active participant with the Florida Hospital Association, the National Association of Healthcare Access Management and the Hillsborough County Healthcare Advisory Board. He served as the Revenue Cycle Chair for the Florida Chapter HFMA Board of Directors from 2007-2010 and has been an active member of since 2008.

In 2016, Escobio was awarded the Outstanding Alumni award by the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He holds a Master of Public Health, is a fellow of Healthcare Financial Management Association and is certified as a healthcare access manager and health care financial professional.

Headshot of Rachel Feinman 

RACHEL FEINMAN 
VICE PRESIDENT, INNOVATION, TGH VENTURES

Rachel Feinman is the Vice President of Innovation at Tampa General Hospital and the Managing Director of TGH Ventures, TGH’s innovation center and corporate venture fund. In her role, Rachel leads innovation at TGH and oversees the organization’s venture investment strategy.

Rachel has a passion for influencing the strategy and driving the action that enables impactful innovation to truly transform the delivery of healthcare. She also enjoys working with and mentoring early-stage startups and emerging entrepreneurs, most recently having served as the Executive Director of the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator, an organization focused on helping high impact Israeli startups penetrate the U.S. healthcare market.

Rachel is a fully recovered business attorney with a long career advising clients raising from private investment funds to startups to large corporate organizations. Rachel lives in Tampa with her two sons, Asher and Ezra.

Headshot of Brian Hammond 

BRIAN HAMMOND 
VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER 

Brian Hammond is the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

As chief technology officer, Hammond develops the strategic vision for integrating ancillary systems to automate process for TGH clinical staff. He successfully managed the security team during TGH’s Epic upgrade and led the effort to automate the validation of more than one million security settings within the system.

Prior to this role, Hammond served as the director of technology integration at TGH from 2011-2016. Before joining TGH, Hammond held positions with several technical consulting firms, including Tribridge Inc. and Global Consultants Inc.

Hammond earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Auburn University and a Program for Technical Managers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

 

STEVE HARRIS
VICE PRESIDENT, PAYOR & GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

Steve Harris is the Vice President of Payor & Governmental Affairs at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

In this role, Harris provides regulatory reimbursement oversight to the organization, supervises payor contracting matters, and represents TGH on issues involving the state legislature and congress.

Prior to joining TGH, Harris was a senior manager in the KPMG Healthcare Advisory practice. While at KPMG, he worked with the firm’s hospital clients in the preparation/review of the Medicare and state Medicaid cost reports, in audit support as a third-party reimbursement specialist, and special reimbursement projects including, graduate medical education, organ acquisition reimbursement, disproportionate share adjustment calculations, Medicare bad debt identification, wage index submissions, and PRRB appeals.

Harris received a master’s degree in health administration and a master’s in business administration from the University of Florida. He holds CHFP designation with the Florida Chapter of HFMA.

Headshot of Lara Klick 

LARA KLICK
VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF PATIENT EXPERIENCE OFFICER

Lara Klick, MBA, CPXP, is Vice President and Chief Patient Experience Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), one of the nation’s leading academic health systems.

In her role, Klick serves as Tampa General’s executive overseeing all aspects of patient experience, patient relations, guest services, patient and family engagement, spiritual health and education departments for the leading academic health system.

Klick’s Patient Experience team at Tampa General is dedicated to informing, educating and guiding hospital clinicians and support teams on best practices and methods to enhance compassionate communication with patients and their families with a focus on patient-centered care. Included among Tampa General’s patient experience programs is its Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC), an initiative developed and championed by Klick.

Klick brings almost three decades of health care experience to her role and has been recognized nationally for her dedication to serving patients and families since joining TGH. In 2023, Klick was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s list of “50+ Health System Chief Experience Officers to Know” a year after the national digital and print publication honored her on its list of “54 Outstanding Health System Chief Experience Officers.”

Prior to joining TGH, Klick served as Director of Service Excellence at Howard County General Hospital. She also spent 10 years at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, serving as Director of Guest Relations and Volunteer Services.

Throughout her career, Klick has been a part of the evolution of the patient experience professional. She worked in Maryland during the CMS three-state pilot which preceded the full implementation of the HCAHPS survey and participated in the initial dialogue regarding the survey administration and regulatory expectations. She also contributed to the national dialogue on compliance with the CMS Standards of Participation during its adoption and the definitions of the standards of compliance.  

Klick received her bachelor’s degree in secondary English education from Duquesne University and her master’s degree in business administration from Western Governors University. She is also a certified patient experience professional.

Headshot of Lijah Lokenauth 

LIJAH LOKENAUTH
VICE PRESIDENT, ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

Lijah P. Lokenauth is the Vice President of Accounting and Finance for Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned non-profit academic health system.

As vice president, Lokenauth oversees the areas of general ledger, reporting, tax, payroll, treasury, grant compliance, accounts payable, and decision support. Prior to his appointment to vice president, he served as the corporate controller for TGH.

Lokenauth is a transformational executive with more than a decade of experience. His professional background includes complex auditing and accounting from the public to private sector. Prior to joining TGH, he led internal controls and finance teams at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he partnered with operational leaders to promote financial stewardship initiatives and education resulting in enhanced reporting and multimillion-dollar savings.

Lijah holds a B.A. in accounting and information systems with honors in business and liberal arts from Queens College, City University of New York. In 2018, Lokenauth was selected by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants as a member of the Leadership Academy. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner through the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and a Certified Public Accountant through the State University of New York. 

Headshot of Michael W. Masem

MICHAEL MASEM
VICE PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT AND DONOR RELATIONS

Michael Masem is the Vice President of Development and Donor Relations at the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Foundation.

In his role, Michael provides leadership for the development, stewardship and marketing teams of the TGH Foundation.

Michael joined TGH in early 2019 after serving in leadership positions at the University of Florida Foundation and USF Health. He brings more than 13 years of executive development experience to TGH.

Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science and Master of Science in management (MSM) degrees from the University of South Florida.

 

DUSTIN PASTEUR, AIA, MBA
VICE PRESIDENT, FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION

Dustin Pasteur is the Vice President of Facilities and Construction at Tampa General Hospital, a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

A licensed architect, Pasteur was fortunate to have the leadership support needed to build an internal design and construction team that is now managing up to $100 million a year in health care construction projects. In 2023, this team will embark on executing a $550 million, five-year master facilities plan to advance Tampa General further into the forefront of world-class care and innovation in health care. Pasteur also oversees a facilities team of 85 technicians specialized in electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and carpentry tasked with keeping more than $4 million square feet operational at Tampa General. His Life Safety and Compliance team trains, inspects and documents hospital compliance practices for CMMS and AHCA regulators.

Pasteur earned a Bachelor of Design and a Master of Architecture from the University of Florida and received a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida. He currently serves as Vice President of the Florida Heath Sciences Ambulatory Services Board and Treasurer for Friends of the Tampa Riverwalk. He is a member of Leadership Florida Connect Class 11, Leadership Tampa Class of 2018, the Tampa Chamber of Commerce Workforce Housing Committee, and the City of Tampa Downtown Citizen Advisory Committee and was former Chairman of the City of Tampa Variance Review Board. He enjoys fishing, being outdoors, throwing a ball with his boys, and working on his 1968 Mustang.

Headshot of Nancy O'Neill 

NANCY O’NEILL, RN, BSN, MBA, CHC, CHPC
CHIEF COMPLIANCE AND PRIVACY OFFICER

Nancy O’Neill is the Sr. Director of Corporate Compliance and Privacy and serves as Tampa General Hospital’s (TGH) Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer. She is responsible for the implementation and management of the compliance program for this nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Since joining TGH in late 2017, O’Neill has been leading a growing compliance department, spearheading many initiatives leading to system wide process improvements and developing a comprehensive proactive access management and monitoring program to improve the privacy and security of patient information.

Prior to joining TGH, O’Neill began her career as a registered nurse over 36 years ago with a primary focus in emergency, trauma, and flight nursing. She has been a compliance professional for over 14 years and has served in compliance and privacy leadership roles at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg and BayCare Health System in Clearwater.

Nancy earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from SUNY Stony Brook and her MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Phoenix. She has participated in several special committees as a member of the Florida Hospital Association Compliance and Privacy constituency groups. Nancy has also been a member of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) since 2007 and has earned the Certification in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) as well as the Certification in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC).

 headshot of nishit patel md in professional attire

NISHIT PATEL, MD
VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF MEDICAL INFORMATICS OFFICER

Nishit Patel, MD, is Vice President and Chief Medical Informatics Officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a nationally renowned nonprofit academic health system.

Dr. Patel serves as the physician executive accountable for the development and implementation of a vision for utilizing information technology and informatics to improve clinical quality, patient safety and clinician efficiency.

Bringing over a decade of healthcare experience to TGH, Dr. Patel is a practicing dermatologist and is double board certified in dermatology and clinical informatics. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and holds a Professor appointment at the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine. Prior to joining Tampa General Hospital, Dr. Patel served as the Chief Medical Information Officer for USF Health and as the Associate Residency Program Director and Director of the Clinical Research Unit in the USF Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery.

Dr. Patel is an award-winning physician, receiving recognition in both Best Doctors in America and Top Doctors in Tampa Bay Magazine. He is a past president of the Florida Society of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery and an inductee to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Dr. Patel earned his Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Florida, his Master of Science in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown University and his Doctor of Medicine from University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.