Press Release

Patricia M. DePompei to Lead AHA Constituency Section for Maternal and Child Health Council

Patricia M. DePompei, R.N., M.S.N., president of University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and MacDonald Women’s Hospital in Cleveland, is the 2017 chair of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Section for Maternal and Child Health Council. The council is an 18-member body, which is comprised of CEOs and senior executives from the nation’s women’s and children’s hospitals and health care providers. As chair, DePompei will lead the AHA Constituency Section for Maternal and Child Health Council on discussions focused on public policy issues concerning women’s and children’s health, hospitals serving that patient population and AHA member service strategies.

DePompei has extensive experience in women’s and pediatric health care and is nationally recognized as a leader in issues concerning women’s and children’s health and wellness. She has held positions throughout the University Hospitals system since 1999.

DePompei is active in several other national health care organizations, including as a board member of the Children’s Hospital Solutions for Patient Safety, Inc.; member of the board of the Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc.; chair-elect of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association; and board member of the Center for Health Affairs in Cleveland and The Centers for Families and Children. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio; her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical College of Ohio at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio; and completed the executive management series in health care at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland.

Charlotte Ipsan, chief administrative officer, Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Louisville, Ky., will serve as chair-elect and will assume the role of chair in 2018. Jim Shmerling, D.H.A., M.B.A., president, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, Conn., is the immediate past chair.

Newly elected to three-year terms expiring in 2019 on the council include: Christine Candio, R.N., CEO, St. Luke’s Hospital, Chesterfield, Mo.; Amy Casseri, vice president, women’s and children’s services, HCA, Nashville, Tenn.; Deb Krmpotic, R.N., CEO, Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, Glendale, Ariz.; and Keith J. Loud, M.D., chair, pediatrics, Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Lebanon, N.H.

The new council members join the following current members: Sheri DeShazo, M.B.A., M.H.A., R.N., LSS-GB, vice president and administrator, WakeMed North Family Health & Women’s Hospital, Raleigh, N.C.; Barbara Joers, M.H.S.A., president and CEO, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, Saint Paul, Minn.; Paul King, M.H.A., CMPE, executive director, University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voightlander Women’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Kristine A. Larison, R.N., M.B.A., program executive, women and children’s services, Providence Oregon region, Providence Health System, Portland, Ore.; Caryn Wilson, executive director, obstetrics & gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Mary Dee Hacker, M.B.A., R.N., NEA-BC, FAAN, vice president, patient care services and chief nursing officer, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles; Sarah Kirby, chief operating officer, Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge, Columbia, S.C.; John. F. Rodis, M.D., M.B.A., executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief physician executive, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.; Judith Rogers, Ph.D., president and CEO, Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, Md.; and Tom Shufflebarger, executive vice president and COO, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala. Judy F. Rich, president and CEO, TMC Healthcare, Tucson, Ariz., serves as the AHA board liaison to the AHA Constituency Section for Maternal and Child Health.

About the AHA Constituency Section for Maternal and Child Health

AHA’s Constituency Section for Maternal and Child Health supports hospital providers of women’s and children’s health services as they build systems of care to improve the health status of their communities. The Section is guided by a council composed of leaders representing some of the country’s leading hospitals and maternal and child health providers. Council members serve as elected representatives of their member peers. They advise the AHA on member service strategies, public policy issues, advocacy positions, and emerging issues, as well as serve as a channel back to the maternal and child health field.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.