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Walnut Creek, Calif., October 20, 2022 – John Muir Health has named Jane Willemsen as the health system’s first Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Dr. Russell Rodriguez as the health system’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective immediately.
Ms. Willemsen has been Executive Vice President and President of Hospital Operations for the past five years at John Muir Health and she has been with the health system for more than 15 years. She led the successful integration of John Muir Health’s Concord, Walnut Creek and Behavioral Health hospital operations structure and has a track record of bringing teams together to deliver results. In the COO role, Ms. Willemsen will have responsibility for all John Muir Health hospital, physician practice and value-based care operations.
Prior to joining John Muir Health, Ms. Willemsen served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, California. She also worked at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as Vice President of Nursing and Allied Health and Assistant Director of Nursing. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Iowa, and a Master of Management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
“Jane’s knowledge of all parts of our health system, having served on the executive team throughout her career, positions her very well to lead our work to further integrate our operations,” said Mike Thomas, president and CEO. “This work takes on added importance as the local health care environment continues to evolve into a value-based care market in which timely and appropriate access to services, quality and actively managing the total cost of care are vital.”
“Integrating our operations will lead to increased efficiencies, an exceptional experience, higher quality, lower costs and improved staff and physician satisfaction, said Willemsen. “We will relentlessly focus on ‘right care, right place, right time’ with extraordinary access to our services.”
After 15 months in the interim Chief Medical Officer (CMO) role, Dr. Rodriguez is having the “interim” removed from his title. Before agreeing to serve as interim CMO, Dr. Rodriguez served as the cross-campus Medical Director of John Muir Health’s Concord and Walnut Creek Emergency Departments (ED). He led the process to integrate the two EDs into one cross campus department and continues to work clinically in both EDs. He also previously served as the Chief of Staff at John Muir Health’s Concord Medical Center.
Dr. Rodriguez graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Molecular Biology. He attended George Washington University Medical School, where he graduated as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. After medical school, Dr. Rodriguez returned to the Bay Area where he completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Stanford.
“Through his clinical and administrative work, Dr. Rodriguez has developed relationships with physicians and leaders across the health system,” said Thomas. “He is widely respected for his clinical skills, critical-thinking, collegiality and leadership and will lead our quality and safety initiatives.”
“We have a unique opportunity to redefine how we work together as a health system,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “It’s critical that we listen to our physicians and staff and build sustainable ways to deliver care more efficiently and effectively without compromising quality and safety.”
About John Muir Health
John Muir Health is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit health care organization east of San Francisco serving patients in Contra Costa, Alameda and southern Solano Counties. It includes a network of more than 1,000 primary care and specialty physicians, 6,000 employees, medical centers in Concord and Walnut Creek, including Contra Costa County’s only trauma center, and a Behavioral Health Center. John Muir Health also has partnerships with UCSF Health, Tenet Healthcare/San Ramon Regional Medical Center, Stanford Children's Health, Optum and Carbon Health. The health system offers a full-range of medical services, including primary care, outpatient and imaging services, and is widely recognized as a leader in many specialties – neurosciences, orthopedic, cancer, cardiovascular, trauma, emergency, pediatrics and high-risk obstetrics care.
Media Contact
Ben Drew (925) 947-5387
ben.drew@johnmuirhealth.com
www.johnmuirhealth.com
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