Melahn Appointed Senior Vice President of Quality and Clinical Affairs

UK St. Claire (SCH) is pleased to announce William Melahn, MD, has been appointed Senior Vice President of Quality and Clinical Affairs.

“As UK St. Claire continues to develop its clinical services to meet the needs of the patients we serve across the entire care continuum, the time is right for our health system to re-evaluate the resources and structure of our quality management functions,” said Donald H. Lloyd, II, SCH President/CEO. “Dr. Melahn has the demonstrated clinical acumen, scientific intelligence, and leadership skills to lead our strategic quality initiatives.”

With this new role, effective May 1, 2022, Dr. Melahn will assume responsibility for the development, restructuring, and repositioning of UK St. Claire’s quality initiatives in the acute, ambulatory, clinical ancillary, and post-acute divisions. Dr. Melahn will work collaboratively with other senior clinical leaders to assure the highest level of care is achieved and sustained in all operations. He will have administrative responsibility for all strategic and operational quality functions, clinical services outcomes, performance improvement projects, research, and Graduate Medical Education oversight.

In today’s health system operating environment, it is critical to resource and support a robust and effective quality and performance infrastructure that assures safe, reliable, and effective care.

“We must elevate the strategic importance of clinical quality in our ministry,” Lloyd said. “Most importantly, I believe we must create a strategic approach to quality management that is driven and led by physician leadership with the prerequisite skills and enthusiasm to achieve excellence in every clinical service, with every patient, and in every care environment.”

Lisa Ray, SCH’s current Vice President of Quality and Resource Management, will transition to the role of Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Compliance and will report to Dr. Melahn.

A new physician leader will be selected to replace Dr. Melahn’s current role as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The new CMO will assume an operational and advocacy role supporting the St. Claire Medical Staff, St. Claire Medical Group, and other clinicians providing care enterprise-wide. The new CMO will report to the President/CEO and have a dyad relationship in collaboration with the Senior Vice President of Quality and Clinical Affairs, Chief Nursing Executive, and other executive leadership.