Analysis  |  By Melanie Blackman   |    August 18, 2022

The New Orleans-based academic medical center will be led by Emily Sedgwick, MD. University Medical Center New Orleans (UMCNO) announced Wednesday that a new president and CEO has been named for the organization. Emily Sedgwick, MD, whose specialty is radiology and women's radiology, will lead the 446-bed, $1.2 billion New Orleans-based academic medical center, which is a part of the LCMC Health system. She succeeds interim CEO Terrie Sterling, who has led the organization since last year. "Dr. Sedgwick is an accomplished leader in academic and non-academic medical systems with employed and affiliated physicians," Greg Feirn, CEO of LCMC Health, said in a statement. "Dr. Sedgwick's 20 years of experience and leadership will help University Medical Center continue to serve as a world-class academic research hospital that trains the next generation of healthcare professionals."

University Medical Center New Orleans (UMCNO) announced Wednesday that a new president and CEO has been named for the organization.

Emily Sedgwick, MD, whose specialty is radiology and women's radiology, will lead the 446-bed, $1.2 billion New Orleans-based academic medical center, which is a part of the LCMC Health system. She succeeds interim CEO Terrie Sterling, who has led the organization since last year.

"Dr. Sedgwick is an accomplished leader in academic and non-academic medical systems with employed and affiliated physicians," Greg Feirn, CEO of LCMC Health, said in a statement. "Dr. Sedgwick's 20 years of experience and leadership will help University Medical Center continue to serve as a world-class academic research hospital that trains the next generation of healthcare professionals."

Sedgwick joins from UK Healthcare, a $2.98 billion, four-hospital academic health system based in Lexington, Kentucky. There, she served as executive chief medical officer, where she led a multidisciplinary team to improve hospital throughput. During her tenure, inpatient bed turnaround was reduced by 32%. Additionally, she spearheaded a clinical documentation initiative to improve hospital quality ratings, revenue, and inpatient throughput, according to the press release.

In previous leadership roles, she served as chief quality officer for Baylor College of Medicine, chief medical officer for HCA Houston Healthcare West, and interim chief medical officer for HCA Houston Medical Center, according to her LinkedIn profile.

"I am excited to join this team and to work with University Medical Center to realize the vision of becoming a leading world-class academic medical center for exceptional healthcare in Louisiana, Sedgwick said in a statement. "As a relationship-based leader, I plan on focusing my efforts as CEO on quality care, service growth population health, and making a good hospital even better."

Melanie Blackman is the strategy editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Melanie Blackman is the strategy editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Photo credit: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - February 12, 2022: University Medical Center New Orleans building is shown, Louisiana, USA, a 446-bed non-profit, public, research and academic hospital. / JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com

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