Cleveland-based University Hospitals (UH) has hired Joy Grosser as chief information officer. She will join UH Sept. 12 after serving as vice president and CIO at 17-hospital UnityPoint Health in West Des Moines, Iowa, for six years.
UH is a $4 billion integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and primary care physician offices in 15 counties throughout Northeast Ohio. In her new position, Grosser will report to Chief Financial Officer Michael Szubski, who is quoted in a UH press release saying, “We look forward to welcoming Joy to Northeast Ohio. Her impressive accomplishments and collaborative leadership style will advance our mission and help us achieve our information technology improvement goals.”
In this role, Ms. Grosser will lead major initiatives to optimize information technology performance at every level of the health system. She will work closely with administrative and clinical leaders to implement strategies that enhance the UH experience for patients, physicians and employees.
“We look forward to welcoming Joy to Northeast Ohio. Her impressive accomplishments and collaborative leadership style will advance our mission and help us achieve our information technology improvement goals,” said Michael A. Szubski, Chief Financial Officer of University Hospitals, to whom Ms. Grosser will report.
Before UnityPoint, Grossner served as CIO for the University of California Irvine Health System in Orange, Calif., for eight years.
Grossner will be replacing Sue Schade, who has served as interim CIO for the past seven months since leaving her position as CIO of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers to work as a consultant. She had been hired on an interim basis after John Foley, who had been CIO since 2012, left to take a position as executive vice president for strategy and business development at Rochester Regional Health in New York.
In a blog post this week, Schade said that she had agreed to stay for several weeks past Grossner’s arrival to orient her and to ensure a smooth transition. “You can’t come into an organization of this size and complexity at a senior leadership level and learn everything in a few weeks. It takes time to get up to speed, to get to know your team and to build the key relationships. I will try to make that initial entry as smooth as possible.”
