Who: Dr. Susan Ehrlich, 55
New role: CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, the city's safety net hospital, effective April 25.
Background: Ehrlich has served as CEO of San Mateo (Calif.) Medical Center, a public hospital, since 2009, and has held a variety of positions, including medical director and chief medical officer. She began her career in public policy and worked as a health budget analyst under former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos. She also served as budget and planning director for the San Francisco Public Health Department before starting medical school in 1995. Ehrlich is a board-certified internal medicine physician.
Role models: Ehrlich said she was inspired by the physicians she met while working in the public health department. “I got the vision for the rest of my life by working with these people,” she said.
Going Lean: Every hospital has the same challenge today—to provide the highest quality care with the most optimal experience for patients, at the lowest cost, Ehrlich said. “Because there's so much change in that equation, we need a single philosophy and a set of tools to get us there,” she said. Ehrlich has experience using the Lean process at San Mateo and is eager to introduce that experience to Zuckerberg.