Sharon O'Keefe named to UHC Governing Board

Sharon O'Keefe named to UHC Governing Board

February 27, 2014

University of Chicago Medical Center President Sharon O'Keefe was named to the Governing Board of UHC, an alliance of 120 leading U.S. academic medical centers and affiliated hospital organizations.

The Governing Board oversees the management of UHC's business and is a subset of the Member Board of Directors. O'Keefe is one of five new members announced Tuesday, and each serves a four-year term.

UHC said the University of Chicago Medicine is a "recognized leader in patient care, medical education and research," and under O'Keefe's leadership has been able to grow revenue and patient admissions while opening the state-of-the-art Center for Care and Discovery, which enjoyed its one-year anniversary this week.

Other appointees are:

  • Penny Castellano, MD, chief medical officer and chief quality officer of The Emory Clinic, Inc.
  • Elizabeth (Liz) Concordia, executive vice president of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and president of the Hospital and Community Services Division
  • Stephen Lawler, president of Vidant Medical Center, one of four academic medical centers in North Carolina, and the teaching hospital for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
  • David Posch, chief executive officer of Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinics.

"We are pleased to welcome these distinguished new board members to an exceptional group of leaders on our Governing Board," said Irene M. Thompson, UHC's president and chief executive officer, in a statement. "Through the continued strong leadership and support of UHC's member boards, UHC remains an innovative leader for hospital members. We look forward to the contributions and expertise of these leaders."

Founded in 1984, Chicago-based UHC fosters collaboration among its members through its renowned solutions in performance improvement, comparative data and analytics, supply chain management, strategic research, and public policy. UHC helps its members achieve excellence in quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness.