Ed Jimenez Named CEO of UF Health Shands

Ed Jiminez

The UF Health Shands board approved the appointment of Ed Jimenez as chief executive officer for the hospital system, effective April 23, 2015.

The announcement comes less than one year after Jimenez became interim CEO for UF Health Shands after serving as chief operating officer and executive vice president.

“Ed has demonstrated incredible talent and leadership during his five years at UF Health Shands, first as chief operating officer from 2010 to 2014 and during the past year as interim CEO. We are delighted that he will continue to bring his strong vision, operational skills and insights to this key leadership position,” said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “Since his arrival, Ed’s work on a daily basis has embodied our institutional commitment to quality as Job 1. He has demonstrated a keen understanding of the interdependent roles of faculty and hospital, and the need for close collaboration to create an academic health center that fully delivers on its missions of patient care, research, education and community service.”

UF Health Shands includes the academic health center’s flagship hospital, UF Health Shands Hospital; UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital; UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital; UF Health Shands Psychiatric Hospital; UF Health Shands Rehab Hospital; and numerous outpatient programs. Patients come to UF Health Shands from all 67 Florida counties and throughout the region, nation and a dozen countries each year. UF Health Shands has a $1.2 billion operating budget and employs more than 8,900 staff.

“At UF Health Shands, I have the privilege of being on a journey with expert and compassionate physicians, nurses and staff who bring the best possible patient care to the citizens of Florida and beyond,” Jimenez said. “I look forward to working with all of them in the patient care, research and educational arenas to make this the best health care system possible.”

As CEO, Jimenez guides the overall direction for the UF Health Shands under the oversight of Guzick and in collaboration with the faculty of the UF College of Medicine and the other Health Science Center colleges.

“Ed believes in the link between excellence in patient care and cutting-edge research,” said Michael L. Good, M.D., dean of the UF College of Medicine. “He has an exceptionally strong grasp of how education, research and patient care fit together to create high-quality experiences for our patients and the best possible outcomes of their care.”

Jimenez has spearheaded improvements in all operating categories, financial performance and employee engagement. He has led construction projects, electronic medical record implementation and national accreditation surveys. He also has played a key role in establishing several successful regional relationships and partnerships with other health systems.

“As chief operations officer, Ed showed tremendous skill in managing the day-to-day operations of the hospital and its staff, and the transition to CEO has shown that his understanding extends to our whole system,” said Irene Alexaitis, D.N.P., R.N., N.E.A.-B.C., chief nursing officer and vice president for nursing and patient care services at UF Health Shands Hospital.

Before joining UF Health in October 2010, Jimenez served as system vice president for St. Joseph’s Healthcare System, a 900-bed health system in northern New Jersey. He oversaw hospital operations, business development and regional/physician partnerships, and was responsible for the 200-member physician group practice. At St. Joseph’s he was also president of seven for-profit, joint venture LLCs.

Jimenez held management positions at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, University Hospital in New Jersey and the Valley Health System in New Jersey. He has an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College in New York and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

 

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