Dr. John Warner was announced as the Wexner Medical Center’s new CEO and executive vice president at Ohio State Friday in a universitywide email. Credit: UT Southwestern Health System
Dr. John Warner will serve as the next CEO of the Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State, university president Kristina M. Johnson announced in an universitywide email Friday.
Warner will start April 1, pending approval from the Board of Trustees, Johnson said in the email. Warner currently serves as the CEO of the University of Texas Southwestern Health System. He also served as the president of the American Heart Association from 2017-18.
Warner will be replacing former CEO Dr. Harold Paz, who stepped down in September 2021. Johnson thanked the interim leaders, Dr. Andrew Thomas and Chief Operating Officer Jay Anderson, for their work during the transition period.
Johnson said Warner’s previous experience will make him a great leader for the Wexner Medical Center.
“With three decades of service, Dr. Warner is uniquely suited to lead the medical center at a time when access to high-quality health care is more important than ever and near-daily advancements in technology and research are reshaping the medical landscape,” Johnson said.
Johnson holds multiple awards in cardiology, including the Nancy and Jeremy Halbreich, Susan and Theodore Strauss Professorship in Cardiology and the Jim and Norma Smith Distinguished Chair for Interventional Cardiology.
In an Ohio State News Release, Leslie Wexner, chair of the Wexner Medical Center Board of Trustees, said the board is excited to welcome Warner to the university.
“Dr. Warner’s record of exemplary leadership, service and vision will help the medical center continue our momentum as one of America’s top-ranked academic health centers,” Wexner said.
Warner said in the release he is excited to help move the center forward.
“Working in academic medicine is a great privilege, and I am honored by the trust the Board of Trustees has placed in me to help propel Ohio State forward and lead a world-class medical center committed to advancing transformative health care that improves the lives of the people we serve across central Ohio, the nation and the world,” Warner said.
