As executive vice president, chief medical officer & interim chief operations officer, Dr. Alessandrini will assume clinical oversight for all of UC Health’s acute care and ambulatory operations, nursing and supply chain. She will retain her oversight of quality, safety, patient experience, performance improvement, and data & analytics, working closely with UC Health’s physician partners at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
“In just the past three years, Dr. Alessandrini has made significant contributions at UC Health to create a culture of clinical and operational excellence, using data-driven decision-making to improve the experience and outcomes for our patients,” Lofgren said. “She is relentless in her pursuit of excellence and doing what’s right for our patients, their families and staff. I am grateful to have her leadership and counsel on our team.”
Dr. Alessandrini joined UC Health in December 2017 as senior vice president & chief medical officer (CMO) after previous service on UC Health’s Board of Directors, including time as chair of the Board’s Patient Care Committee. She has 30 years of contributions to academic medicine in academic health systems. Additionally, Dr. Alessandrini serves as Professor of Pediatrics at the UC College of Medicine.
“During her time at UC Health, Dr. Alessandrini has provided outstanding leadership within our academic healthcare system, and indeed across the entire community,” said Sandy Heimann, chair of the UC Health Board of Directors and retired vice president for American Financial. “She is always guided by doing what is best for the patient and for the team of people who care for them.”
Recently, Dr. Alessandrini has helped lead both the UC Health COVID-19 pandemic response and the Greater Cincinnati pandemic response on the Regional Hospital Steering Committee as part of the Greater Cincinnati Health Collaborative. She has become a well-known voice in the community, promoting actions by the public to follow necessary precautions to protect themselves and also our healthcare workers.
“I am passionate about bringing together teams with different skills and expertise to deliver exceptional healthcare services for our patients and families, while supporting and developing each other,” said Alessandrini. “I am humbled every day to work with amazing people who are committed to academic medicine and driving discovery and education so that we continue to be a source of hope to our community.”
Before her time at UC Health, Dr. Alessandrini served as professor and associate chair of outcomes and process improvement in the Department of Pediatrics within the UC College of Medicine and practiced clinically in pediatric emergency medicine for 25 years.
At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, she served as the assistant vice president for improvement integration within the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence working with clinical institutes, divisions and business units to manage strategically aligned clinical portfolios focused on improving outcomes, experience and value of care.
Dr. Alessandrini completed her fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and her pediatric residency and chief residency at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She received her undergraduate degree from Marquette University, her doctor of medicine from Jefferson Medical College, and a masters’ degree in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Pennsylvania where she served as a faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for 17 years.
UC Health does not plan to replace the position of chief operating officer, recently vacated by Pete Gilbert. During this pandemic, the clinical operations responsibilities have transitioned to Dr. Alessandrini and other operational areas have been assumed by various members of the executive team.