Yale New Haven Health System recently announced the creation of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, which will oversee and coordinate safety, quality and high reliability activities, performance management, regulatory readiness, graduate medical education, physician credentialing and other medical affairs management activities across the health system. The following appointments have been made to oversee the improvement of care throughout the health system:

Thomas Balcezak, MD, MPH, currently CMO for Yale New Haven Hospital, has been named CMO for the health system. Dr. Balcezak has spent the last 17 years in leadership positions at YNHH in progressively senior roles and has worked extensively in performance management and clinical oversight with physician leaders at Bridgeport and Greenwich hospitals, Northeast Medical Group (NEMG), Yale Medicine and community physicians. In addition to his expanded role, Dr. Balcezak will continue as CMO at YNHH.

Michael Ivy, MD, has assumed the role of deputy CMO for YNHHS. Dr. Ivy, who was a fellow and attending on the trauma service at YNHH, will also retain this current position as CMO at Bridgeport Hospital.

Spike Lipschutz, MD, CMO for Greenwich Hospital, will retain that role and lead a new CMO Advisory Group that will work to create a renewed physician leadership infrastructure across the health system with representatives from NEMG, Yale Medicine and Bridgeport, Yale New Haven Children's and Yale New Haven Smilow Cancer hospitals, among others.

Victor Morris, MD's role as vice president for Patient and Physician Access at YNHH has been expanded system-wide also. As YNHHS vice president for the service, Dr. Morris will work with medical leadership to coordinate Y-Access, SkyHealth and telemedicine initiatives.

Ian Schwartz, MD, executive director, YNHH Care Management, has been named YNHHS vice president, Clinical Operations. He will lead care management activities across all inpatient facilities, clinical redesign activities and care transition work for all delivery networks.