CONTACT: Toni Morrissey
(608) 263-3223
tmorrissey@uwhealth.org
MADISON- The Executive Committee of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) Authority Board of Directors has announced that hospital Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Sliwinski has agreed to serve as interim president and CEO. The duties of UWHC president and CEO have been transferred to Sliwinski effective today.
“Ron brings a true passion for UW Health’s mission and vision,” said David Walsh, chairman of the UWHC Authority Board. “He has a thorough understanding of UWHC’s patient care operations, its role as a nationally-recognized regional referral center and its commitment to be a workplace of choice for staff and physicians. We are confident that Ron and the senior team will guide UWHC successfully through the current transition and ensure that we unfailingly uphold our commitment to excellence for patients, families and staff.”
“Looking toward the future, Ron and the Board, along with the senior leaders and boards of all UW Health organizations, will continue to discuss ways to create a more streamlined and integrated UW Health structure for governance, leadership and operations,” said Walsh. “UWHC’s commitments to patients, families and staff are fundamental and of the highest priority in these discussions.”
Sliwinski joined UW Hospital and Clinics in 2009 as vice president for professional services and served in that role for eight months before being elevated to senior vice president and COO. With the senior leadership team, he has provided overall leadership to inpatient and ambulatory operations as well as key service lines of organ transplantation and organ procurement, orthopedics, and neurology/neurosurgery. As COO, he has championed efforts to improve quality, safety and the patient and family experience, while reducing costs.
As a key leader in UW Health strategic planning and implementation, he led the early planning for innovative facilities such as the Digestive Health Center, which opened in 2013, and UW Health at The American Center, which will open in August 2015. He also was a key collaborator in development of the UW Health Simulation Center, a multidisciplinary setting for clinical training of faculty and staff. In addition, he worked closely with leaders in UW Medical Foundation and UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) in the formation of the UW Health Accountable Care Organization, the successful renewal of the SMPH’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for clinical and translational research, and the establishment of academic affiliation agreements with SMPH that more tightly link the clinical, research and teaching missions of the enterprise.
Prior to his arrival at UWHC, Sliwinski served for more than 26 years in executive roles at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Sliwinski holds an MBA in finance from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.
