Who: Dr. Angela Shippy, 46
New role: Chief quality officer at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, a position that had been vacant. Memorial Hermann operates eight hospitals as well as the Memorial Hermann Physician Network. Its Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is the primary teaching hospital for the UT Health Medical School. Shippy began her new duties March 3.
Previous positions: She was the first chief medical officer for HCA's Gulf Coast division, based in Houston; hospitalist, medical director and then VP of medical affairs for St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Houston.
Top priorities: “With the focus on really moving to become a high-reliability organization, it's important for the system to fill this role in order to go to the next level. I'm making sure we have evidence-based processes in place and ensuring quality of care is consistent and without variation.”
Biggest challenge: “There are now definitions of what quality is, and physicians are being measured and held accountable for them. The challenge is making sure everyone understands the definition of what good quality is and that is the care that is delivered. In the simplest terms, quality is providing the best evidence-based care every day for every patient while avoiding any possible error. That's the bottom line.”
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