September 18, 2019

I am pleased to announce that following a highly collaborative search and selection process involving team members, leaders and physicians, John Ward, currently Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Information Officer (CIO), has been selected to serve as Senior Vice President of TriHealth’s Bethesda North Region.

John assumes this regional leadership role from Rob Cercek, who has been serving as both Executive Vice President of Physician Practices and Population Health and SVP of the Bethesda North Region for the past year. John’s appointment will allow Rob to focus his full attention on supporting the growth and development of our employed physician community and guiding our population health strategy and initiatives.

Through the selection process, John emerged as the clear choice for the role with broad support because of his unique mix of exceptional people, business, and healthcare leadership skills. He is highly adept at leading and integrating a complex healthcare system, and has a proven track record for successfully executing critical strategic initiatives and capital projects. Under John’s leadership, TriHealth has achieved HIMSS Stage 7 for Hospitals and Ambulatory and has received nine consecutive HealthCare’s Most Wired awards – placing TriHealth in the top 10% of all health systems nationally!! John is also a dedicated servant leader and role model for the TriHealth Way. He listens to his team and colleagues, is a confident decision-maker, and achieves impressive results ranging from outstanding team member engagement to strong internal customer satisfaction to market leading information technology adoption.

By working in concert with the Bethesda North Region’s physicians and hospital presidents – who have day-to-day responsibility for the operations of our hospitals – John will provide the right senior leadership during a time of strategic growth for the Bethesda North region. This growth is marked by major capital projects underway, including the development of the Thomas Comprehensive Care Center and the creation of the TriHealth Heart Hospital on the Bethesda North Campus – each aimed at delivering the right care at the right time in the right place for the right cost to achieve the right outcomes.

Cathy French, Executive Director of Information Systems, will serve as Interim CIO and report to John, effective immediately – enabling a smooth transition of responsibilities until a permanent CIO has been named. John will begin meeting with Bethesda North leaders and team members at upcoming Town Halls and through on-site rounding over the next few weeks. He looks forward to listening and learning more about how to continue the work of bringing better care, better health, and better value to our Bethesda North regional community.

Please join me in congratulating John and wishing him all the best as he takes on this crucial regional leadership role for TriHealth in support of our efforts to get healthcare right for all those we serve!

Mark C. Clement
President and CEO

I am very excited to work with John in this new role!
Posted by: Lorraine Stephens on September 25, 2019
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