Leadership announcement

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I am thrilled to share with you the news that Dr. John J. Warner, MD, MBA, will serve as CEO of the Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State. Dr. Warner will join Ohio State on April 1, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.

A nationally recognized clinician and health care leader, he comes to our university from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he is the executive vice president for health system affairs and the CEO of the UT Southwestern Health System. Dr. Warner holds the Nancy and Jeremy Halbreich, Susan and Theodore Strauss Professorship in Cardiology, and the Jim and Norma Smith Distinguished Chair for Interventional Cardiology. Throughout his career as one of the nation’s foremost health care leaders, he has consistently worked to advance the quality and safety of hospitals and health systems. This commitment has helped make UT Southwestern a highly regarded and consistently top-ranked medical center serving a large metropolitan area.

Additionally, he has served in many vital roles with the American Heart Association, including the organization’s president, and is eager to bring his wealth of knowledge and experience to the exceptional community of faculty, staff and students at our medical center. In his new role as part of the Buckeye community, Dr. Warner will lead efforts to advance and pioneer interdisciplinary approaches to health care delivery, research and teaching at the Wexner Medical Center. He will also work closely with university leaders to advance the excellence of the university and its academic medical center through signature integrated teaching and learning, and convergent research initiatives.

You can read more about today’s announcement on Ohio State News.

Our gratitude goes to interim co-leaders Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer and senior associate vice president for health sciences, and Mr. Jay Anderson, chief operating officer of the medical center, and the entire Wexner Medical Center leadership team. Their collaboration and dedication during this transition period have been phenomenal, and they have accelerated our progress toward achieving Ohio State’s ambitious goals. We also thank the search committee, including co-chairs Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam, executive vice president and provost, and Elizabeth Seely, chief administrative officer, hospital division, Wexner Medical Center.

With three decades of service, Dr. Warner is uniquely suited to lead the medical center at a time when access to high-quality health care is more important than ever and near-daily advancements in technology and research are reshaping the medical landscape. On behalf of the university community, I want to thank the Board of Trustees for recruiting such an outstanding new Buckeye.

Please join me in providing Dr. Warner with a warm and enthusiastic welcome!

Sincerely yours,

Kristina M. Johnson, PhD

President