University of Iowa Health Care has announced several leadership changes, including its two top posts.
Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine, announced that he will step down from his leadership role but will remain on the college’s faculty to pursue his research. The university will launch a national search for its next VPMA and dean of the college, and Jackson will serve until his successor begins.
Jackson joined UI Health Care in November 2017 and led the organization through a time of expansion and a global pandemic.
“I am so proud of everything our team has accomplished over the past five years, from leading UI Health Care’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic even while reaching for new heights of academic excellence, to obtaining approval on ambitious plans for new growth and partnerships to securing the single largest gift in the history of the university,” Jackson says. “As UI Health Care prepares to tackle the next bold phase in its history, the time is right for new leadership to pilot the organization to the next level.”
Hunter named interim CEO
Kimberly Hunter, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, has been named interim CEO of UI Hospitals & Clinics and interim associate vice president of UI Health Care following the departure of Suresh Gunasekaran, MBA, who left Iowa to become president and CEO at University of California San Francisco Health.
Hunter joined UI Hospitals & Clinics in April 2021 as chief nurse executive. She has more than 30 years of health care management experience—including nearly 20 years collective experience at Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic.
A national search for the next CEO of UI Hospitals & Clinics will begin after the new VPMA and dean has started.
UI Hospitals & Clinics names Blomberg as chief operating officer
In March, Emily C. Blomberg, MHA, began as chief operating officer (COO) for UI Hospitals & Clinics.
As COO, Blomberg will oversee the management of patient care operations, ancillary services, and related support services at UI Hospitals & Clinics. Working with hospital leaders, department chairs, and others, she will develop and monitor operational strategies that strengthen inpatient, outpatient, and surgical services.
Blomberg comes to Iowa from Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she served as COO and oversaw surgical, ambulatory, pharmacy, clinical laboratory, information technology, and facility-related services. She also led the organization’s COVID-19 pandemic response, including its vaccine deployment, and she provided executive oversight in areas of budget, capital planning, and employee engagement.