October 02, 2019

While not fond of the all-too-often used phrase, “it is with mixed emotion,” it genuinely applies today as I share with you that Rob Cercek – who has been serving as the Executive Vice President (EVP) of TriHealth Physician Partners (TPP) and Population Health, and also for the past year as the Bethesda North Region Executive – has made the decision to leave TriHealth at the end of October to take on the role of president of one of the OhioHealth System hospitals.

Rob shared with me that he wants to return to his roots in hospital operational leadership, where he feels he can work more directly with physicians, team members, and patients to make healthcare better where it counts most – at the frontlines where care is delivered and received. He also feels this move will allow him to better balance work and personal pursuits. Although saddened to see Rob leave, the growing strength of our organization and leadership team will allow us to reassign Rob’s duties, maintaining a seamless transition and no loss in momentum. As I shared earlier this month, John Ward was recently selected as our new Senior Vice President of TriHealth’s Bethesda North Region and he will assume full responsibility for the Region’s operations prior to Rob’s departure.

With respect to Rob’s responsibilities for TPP and Population Health, his planned departure has provided us the opportunity to re-evaluate and evolve our senior leadership structure with the aim of further streamlining and simplifying executive management. As a result, Rob’s position will not be filled, allowing for other senior leaders to take on expanded roles as described below:

• TriHealth Physician Partners: Bryan Strader, MD, currently serving as TPP Physician Executive, will take on an expanded, new role of President of TPP. Like our hospital presidents, Dr. Strader will work closely with the TPP senior team, consisting of Vesta Johns, Operations Executive, our TPP Medical Directors, Brad Hall, Senior Director of Practice Development, and Chad Boyd, Director of TPP Finance. Under Dr. Strader’s leadership, this team will have full responsibility for guiding the clinical, operational, and financial growth and development of our employed physician community. Bryan will report to Dr. Kevin Joseph allowing for closer alignment of TPP within the Office of the CMO/Medical Affairs to further strengthen our clinical integration work.
• Population Health: Dr. Kevin Joseph, CMO, and Andrew DeVoe, CFO, will function as the physician and administrative dyad, providing clinical and executive leadership over our Population Health Transformation. Randy Curnow, MD, PHO President and Medical Director of Ambulatory Services, and John Khoury, Senior Leader for Population Health, will continue to manage the day-to-day operations and transformation of our Population Health functions, and will report directly to Kevin and Andrew.

Please join me in thanking Rob for his dedicated service and many contributions in support of our work to get healthcare right for all those we serve! We wish him all the best as he more closely aligns his career with his true passion for local hospital operations.

Mark C. Clement 
President and CEO