Leadership at UI Health Care

University of Iowa Health Care is a fully integrated academic medical center that includes the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine; University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics; and UI Physicians, the organization’s multispecialty medical and surgical group practice.

Each entity plays a unique role in fulfilling shared missions of patient care, research, and education.

Our Leadership Entities

UI Hospitals & Clinics

Additional Leadership Groups

UI Hospitals & Clinics Leadership

Brooks
Jackson
MD, MBA

UI Vice President for Medical Affairs, Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine, Professor

Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, became the UI Vice President for Medical Affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine in November 2017. As vice president for medical affairs, he is responsible for integrated planning and operations for University of Iowa Health Care, which is comprised of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics; the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine; and UI Physicians, the state’s largest multi-specialty physician group practice. A powerful resource for Iowa, UI Health Care has a total impact of more than $4 billion on state’s economy and is responsible for more than 33,000 jobs in the state.

As dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, he is the leader of Iowa’s only comprehensive allopathic medical school, with the mission of inspiring and educating world-class health-care providers and scientists for the people of Iowa and our global community. In addition to serving as dean, Jackson is a professor in the Department of Pathology in the Carver College of Medicine.

Jackson is an internationally recognized AIDS researcher and is board-certified in pathology and transfusion medicine. He was the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health–funded International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network, which conducted landmark clinical trials for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and the treatment of pediatric HIV infection and complications. These trials led to the prevention of HIV infection for hundreds of thousands of infants as well as improved treatments for children born with HIV worldwide.

Prior to leading UI Health Care, Jackson had served since 2014 as the vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school at the University of Minnesota. In that role, he was the executive leader for the university’s academic health center, which coordinates care and learning across six schools and colleges in dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and veterinary medicine. Jackson also served as chair of the University of Minnesota Health board of directors and the University of Minnesota Physicians board.

From 2001 to 2014, he was the chair of the pathology department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He holds an MBA and MD from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and completed his residency in pathology at the University of Minnesota.

Melissa
Whisler
MBA, MHA

Interim Chief Administrative Officer, UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital

Melissa Whisler, MBA, MHA, was appointed administrative chief of staff in June 2019. In this role, she works closely with the CEO and hospital executives to promote alignment of institutional strategic initiatives and priorities across departments. She works with key enterprise stakeholders, including departmental executive officers, leadership in the Office of the Vice President for Medical Affairs and across campus, and external stakeholders.

Whisler graduated in December 2006 with a dual Masters of Business Administration and Health Administration degrees from the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and College of Public Health. She joined University of Iowa Health Care in 2008 as Manager of Strategic Business Planning. She then held roles as the clinical department administrator for the Emergency Department (2012-2015) and as clinical department administrator in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics (2015-2019).

Theresa M.
Brennan
MD

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Clinical Professor

Theresa Brennan, MD, FACC, has been chief medical officer of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics since July 2011. She works closely with other hospital leaders to improve value for the patients, faculty, and staff.

Her clinical interests include prevention of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease in women, treatment of peripheral arterial disease, and interventional cardiology.

She oversees Clinical Quality Safety and Performance Improvement (CQSPI), Operations Excellence, the Office of The Patient Experience, the Clinical Staff Office, and other hospital-based programs including: the Hospitalist program, Palliative Care, and Documentation Improvement.

Michael
Brownlee
PharmD, MS, FASHP

Chief Pharmacy Officer, Associate Director, PGY1/2 Health System Pharmacy Administration Residency Program Director

Michael Brownlee, PharmD, was named associate director and chief pharmacy officer of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in November 2012. In addition, he is associate dean for clinical education and associate professor (clinical) at the UI College of Pharmacy.

Brownlee is a native Iowan and received his PharmD degree with honors from the UI College of Pharmacy. He also holds a master’s degree in Health System Pharmacy Administration from the University of Kansas. He worked in UI Hospitals & Clinics Department of Pharmacy while a student and following receipt of his degree, held leadership positions at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Missouri College of Pharmacy in Kansas City. Most recently, he served as director of the Department of Pharmacy Services at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, where he also was associate dean for clinical education at the Oregon State College of Pharmacy.

 

Mark
Henrichs

Associate Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Rebecca
O'Rourke

Assistant Director for Clinical Care Services

Rebecca O'Rourke was named assistant director for clinical care services in March 2014. Her responsibilities include overseeing operations of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dermatology, Dialysis, Digestive Health, Family Medicine, Heart and Vascular Center, Hospital Dentistry, Medicine Specialties, Oral Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Surgery Specialties, and Urology.

Prior to her current role, she was most recently the director of Dialysis and Division of Nephrology administrator. She has served in several other capacities since joining UI Health Care, including as assistant to the chief executive officer, administrative fellow, and administrative resident.

Jennifer
Miller
MHA, MPH, RD

Support Services Assistant Director

Jennifer Thompson was named assistant director for support services in March 2014. She is responsible for the service, quality, and fiscal performance of Environmental Services, Engineering Services, Food and Nutrition Services, Guest Services, University Employee Health Clinic, Project Art and Medical Museum, Patients’ Library, and space planning and utilization, spanning both children’s and adult services.

Prior to her current role, she most recently served as a senior project manager for UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. At UI Hospitals & Clinics, she has also been an administrative fellow, dietitian, retail manager, and dietetic intern in Food and Nutrition Services.

Geeta
Lal
MD

Professor, Associate Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Adult Inpatient Director

Emily
Ward
BSN, RN, MBA, CENP, CCRN-K

Associate Chief Nurse Executive

As Associate Chief Nurse Executive, Emily Ward works to ensure continued progress on initiatives and effective day-to-day clinic and inpatient operations.

Ward was the interim director of the Medical and Surgical Nursing Division and has been with University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics since 2007, beginning as a staff nurse in the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit. She then served as assistant nurse manager and nurse manager on the unit before moving onto the division leadership role.

Ward is a member of several professional organizations, including Iowa Organization of Nurse Leaders, American Organization of Nurse Executives, and American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She received a bachelor of science in nursing from Millikin University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa.

Derek
Zhorne
MD

Interim Chief Quality Officer, Clinical Associate Professor

Derek Zhorne, MD is currently the Associate Chief Quality Officer for Children’s and Women’s Services (CWS) and a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (MD) and completed pediatric residency, chief residency, and a fellowship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Zhorne spends his clinical time in the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital as a pediatric hospitalist and he has special interests in evidence-based clinical practice and caring for children with medical complexity. He has received collegiate and departmental teaching awards for his contributions to resident and medical student education. 

In his role as Associate Chief Quality Officer (ACQO) for CWS, he has provided leadership on the continual journey towards delivering safe, effective and evidence-based care for patients. Dr. Zhorne has worked to help standardize care processes and minimize unnecessary variation in care by supporting the creation and utilization of pediatric clinical care guidelines. He has led and supported multiple efforts to improve pediatric medication safety at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, including the implementation of critical dose warning alerts throughout the organization and reducing pediatric adverse drug events due to opioids by ~60% in the past fiscal year.

Lee
Carmen
BSEE

Associate Vice President for Information Systems

Lee Carmen was appointed associate vice president for information systems in July 2007. He oversees information technology services, including technical support, applications development, and clinical applications across the University of Iowa Health Care enterprise. 

He joined the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine staff as director of Information Systems in 1994, directing information technology support for academic, research, and administrative initiatives. In 2001, he was named chief information officer and director of Health Care Information Systems for University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and UI Carver College of Medicine. He is an adjunct instructor in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.

Carmen received bachelor’s degrees in microbiology from the University of Oklahoma and in electrical engineering from the University of Iowa.

Becker's Hospital Review recognized Lee Carmen in the 2014 edition of "100 Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know."

Jana R.
Wessels
JD, MBA

Associate Vice President for Human Resources, University of Iowa Health Care

Jana Wessels was appointed associate vice president for Human Resources on March 1, 2011. In this role she is responsible for all human resource activities within University of Iowa Health System.

Prior to this appointment she served as Assistant Vice President for Human Resources for UI Health Care and Director of the Carver College of Office of Medicine Human Resources. In addition to her UI Health Care roles, Wessels has served in several administrative roles throughout the University of Iowa, including Director of Operations for the Division of Performing Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Director of the Executive MBA program, in the Tippie College of Business. Jana also spent five years as a lead officer in the Operations Division of ACT, Inc. where she served as Director of National Recognition Programs.

She holds both JD and MBA degrees from The University of Iowa and is a member of the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Iowa Bar Association.

Joseph
Clamon
JD

Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs

Joseph B. Clamon, JD, was named the associate vice president for legal affairs for University of Iowa Health Care in April 2014. In this capacity he serves as chief legal counsel, overseeing the full range of legal services for each component of UI Health Care.

Clamon came to UI Health Care from UnityPoint Health in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he served as in-house counsel, advising UnityPoint leaders on a broad array of health care issues. Prior to his role with UnityPoint Health, he was an attorney with the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, specializing in health law and life sciences, and a judicial clerk for Judge Michael J. Melloy, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Clamon is currently an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. He previously held adjunct professorships in the Drake University Law School and Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Clamon is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. He is licensed in both Iowa and Illinois, and is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and Iowa Society of Health Care Attorneys.