American College of Surgeons names Warshaw as new president, and other executive moves

Dr. Andrew Warshaw has begun his one-year term as president of the American College of Surgeons, a 79,000-member professional association based in Chicago.

Warshaw, 75, is surgeon-in-chief emeritus at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the W. Gerald Austen Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, where he has been a professor since 1987. He also is director of the Andrew L. Warshaw Institute for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Massachusetts General. His clinical interests have centered on diseases of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract with a focus on surgical oncology.

Holly Potter has been named chief communications officer of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a not-for-profit based in Palo Alto, Calif., that offers grants for projects to improve patient care. Her appointment is effective Nov. 17.

Potter, 43, who has more than 20 years' experience in public relations and branding, will be the foundation's first CCO.

Most recently, Potter was VP of brand communications for Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif. She was chosen for that role after leading communications for Kaiser's quality-improvement programs and electronic health-record implementation efforts.

Bonnie Panlasigui (formerly Hanson) has been named chief administrative officer at Alameda (Calif.) Hospital, part of Alameda Health System, a safety net organization based in Oakland, Calif.

Most recently, Panlasigui, 35, was COO at Dupont Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind., part of the Lutheran Health Network. Previously, she was an associate administrator with HCA. She was recruited to be part of a turnaround team to save a Southern California hospital system on the verge of being shut down by the CMS.

She serves on the advisory board for Mentoring Women's Network and is a founder and board member of the Asian Health Care Leaders Association.

Valerie Powell-Stafford has been named COO at Blake Medical Center, an HCA-owned hospital in Bradenton, Fla.

Powell-Stafford replaced Justin Doss, now senior VP and COO at the Medical Center of Plano (Texas), also an HCA hospital.

Before joining Blake Medical Center, Powell-Stafford was COO at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota (Fla.) for the past five years.

Tim Bowen has been named president of Integris Grove (Okla.) Hospital, part of Integris Health, a not-for-profit system based in Oklahoma City. The appointment is effective Jan. 5.

Bowen, 30, has been CEO of Mena (Ark.) Regional Health System since 2011. Previously, he served as the system's assistant CEO and compliance officer.

Rick Palagi has been named CEO of Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, Elko, part of LifePoint Hospitals. He has been interim CEO at the hospital since Aug. 7.

Previously, Palagi, 61, was president and CEO of St. Alphonsus Medical Center, Ontario, Ore., for three years. He also has more than 30 years of senior executive experience with five hospitals in Idaho, Montana and Wisconsin.