Renown Welcomes New Chief Clinical and Quality Officer; Thomas Graf, MD

Dr. Graf will support clinical providers in delivering the most effective, highest-quality patient care at lowest cost.

Renown Health is excited to announce that Dr. Thomas Graf is joining the organization as its Chief Clinical and Quality Officer on September 20. In this role, Dr. Graf will support clinicians in delivering the most effective, highest-quality patient care at the lowest cost. Dr. Graf will also assist Renown in expanding innovative care models like Hospital at Home and remote patient monitoring technology to deliver patient-centered health care that both convenient and affordable.

“At Renown, delivering the highest quality care is our #1 priority. Embracing our vision to improve the health of our community, we are pleased to welcome an experienced leader like Dr. Graf to our organization and to Nevada,” said Tony Slonim, MD, D.Ph., President and CEO, Renown Health. “As the Chief Clinical and Quality Officer, Tom will fuel Renown’s transformation to a value-based care organization, help advance technologies to enhance the patient experience, and collaborate with providers in our medical group, acute care hospitals, and through our clinically integrated network, accountable care organization and affiliation with UNR Med to create a healthier Nevada. Dr. Graf embodies our core values of caring, integrity, collaboration and excellence, and respect for all. We are thrilled to bring him to the Silver State, and to continue to offer health care that is affordable, accessible and of the highest quality.”

Graf is a highly accomplished physician executive with leadership experience from leading health care and insurance organizations as well as a national consulting firm. A family medicine physician, researcher and academic, Dr. Graf has focused on driving quality improvement to lower the total cost of care. He has developed and published on care models that have delivered measurably better results for quality, cost, and experience in a variety of venues. He has practiced in an integrated delivery system, with over a decade at Geisinger (PA), as well as clinically integrated networks and accountable care organizations. He also has worked with a number of academic medical centers through his consulting work with The Chartis Group. Dr. Graf is respected for his adaptable and effective leadership style and the ability to create consensus through shared perspectives.

Dr. Graf adds, “My goal is to produce greater value for the patient by delivering care that is of highest clinical quality. Renown has a national reputation for delivering excellent care using approaches that are creative, innovative and maximize technology, and I look forward to engaging physicians and administrators in an agenda that supports this vision.”

Dr. Graf comes to Renown from Ascension in St. Louis, MO, where he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Population Health and Value Based Care Officer. He has extensive experience in population health, having been involved in clinical re-engineering and payment model evolution since 2005 with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the Physician Group Practice Demonstration project as well as Geisinger’s Proven Care® and ProvenHealth Navigator® programs.

“Choosing a physician and hospital for their care is one of the most important decisions people will ever make. I am excited to begin my work with Renown to help patients enhance their health and well-being,” said Dr. Graf. “I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the great progress that Renown Health is making in becoming the best place to practice medicine and to receive care. I am excited to join this journey of transformation to value- based care, and to serve patients, clinicians and the community.”

Dr.GrafwillreportdirectlytoDr.TonySlonim,presidentandCEO,RenownHealth.Dr.GrafearnedhisDoctorofMedicine from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and completed his Family Practice Residency at Henry FordHealth SysteminDetroit.

In U.S. News and World Report Best Hospital Rankings, Renown Regional Medical Center is named #1 in the State of Nevada for 2021. No other hospital in Nevada earned recognition from U.S. News.

About Renown Health

Renown Health is a locally governed, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving northern Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California. Renown is one of the region's largest private employers with a workforce of more than 7,000. It comprises three acute care hospitals, the region's only children's hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, the area's most comprehensive medical group and urgent care network, and the region's largest and only locally owned not-for-profit insurance company, Hometown Health. Renown has a long tradition and commitment to improve the care and the health of our community. For more information, visit renown.org.

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As Reno’s only locally owned, not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare network, Renown Health and its health insurance organization, Hometown Health, reinvest every dollar earned back into the community; in expertise, technology, treatments, training, and research to improve health and prevent illness.

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Reno is Home to Chief Marketing Officer to Know: Suzanne Hendery of Renown Health, Named to Becker's National List

Becker’s Hospital Review’s annual list of Chief Marketing Officers to Know has been published, recognizing professional healthcare leaders across the country who specialize in branding, marketing and communications. Suzanne Hendery, MA, APR, CPXP of Renown Health, Reno’s only not-for-profit, academic health care organization, is one of the 78 professional hospital and healthcare communicators nationally to be listed, and the only one from Nevada. “The driven, innovative thinkers featured on this list are responsible for implementing impactful marketing strategies for their hospitals and health systems. Utilizing brand building, data analysis, business-to-business and business-to-consumer outreach, partnerships, social media and beyond, these executives lead with creativity and precision. This list celebrates chief marketing officers for their outside-the-box thinking and award-winning creative strategies,” writes Anna Falvey of Becker’s Healthcare. “We are proud to showcase these accomplished professionals, whose work plays a vital role in the success and growth of their organizations. Anna Falvey writes, “Suzanne Hendery. Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). Ms. Hendery works with Renown Health’s CEO, executive team and key stakeholders to create engaging communications and exceptional experiences for customers. She oversees marketing and communications, the customer service call center, customer experience and community health for the largest integrated health system in Nevada, with hospitals and outpatient centers serving 1 million people. Their brand campaign, “Fight the Good Fight,” new website and online physician ratings led Renown to become a premier brand position in the market and a statewide leader. A recent employee referral and recruitment campaign yielded 1,000 new clinicians in just one year. Ms. Hendery has implemented a new initiative focusing on online scheduling for adult primary care and pediatric visits, with the goal of reaching 80% of all patients via online scheduling. This initiative allows patients to learn about different physicians, as well as schedule and receive appointment reminders in both English and Spanish.” Hendery has over 25 years of experience as a health care executive specializing in listening to and engaging key stakeholders to create engaging communications and exceptional experiences that delight customers and transform organizations. She is a nationally recognized leader in successfully implementing customer-centered, enterprise-wide digital transformation and branding efforts to build preference, loyalty and drive revenue and growth. Hendery earned her M.A. in Marketing Communications from the University of Connecticut, is a lecturer at Harvard University, a member of the American Marketing Association Health Care Executive Board, Accredited as APR by the Public Relations Society of America, serves as a national board member for the American Hospital Association’s Board of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. Hendery was selected as the 2020 "Marketing Person of the Year” by the Healthcare and IT Marketing Community (HITMC), and appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of Strategic Health Care Marketing in 2021. Hendery and her teams have won numerous international and national awards for their outstanding contributions and best practices in healthcare marketing, branding, patient experience and community engagement programs. Suzanne Hendery is a member of the executive leadership team at Renown Health. She is a frequent contributor and speaker for the American Marketing Association, HIMSS, The Forum for Healthcare Strategists, the Healthcare Executive Forum, American Hospital Association, Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit, Becker’s, Modern Healthcare. Note: Leaders cannot pay for inclusion on this list.

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