St. Luke’s CEO David J. Fine Accepts Position as President of CHI Institute for Research and Innovation

David J. Fine (Photo: Business Wire)

HOUSTON & ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--()--David J. Fine, president and chief executive officer of St. Luke's Health System (SLHS), announced today that he has accepted a position as president of a national research institute operated by Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), parent of St. Luke's. Fine will transition from his leadership role at St. Luke's to his new role with the CHI Institute for Research and Innovation (CIRI) in Englewood, CO, within the next thirty days after orienting his successor.

Cliff A. Robertson, MD, MBA, chief operating officer of CHI’s Franciscan Health System, Tacoma, WA, has been named interim CEO for SLHS.

“St. Luke’s is a splendid health system and it has been a pleasure to serve as its principal executive since 2004,” said Fine. “The commitment of our employees and physicians for St. Luke’s brand of Faithful, Loving Care® has advanced our church-based mission for nearly sixty years. It has been an honor to be associated with so many highly committed individuals and I thank them for their support. In my new role I will have the opportunity to guide CHI’s national centers for clinical research, translational research and population health management and look forward to these new challenges.”

“David’s service has been exemplary,” said Leonard Tallerine, Chair, SLHS Board of Directors. “It is characterized by growth from the original Texas Medical Center location, with a just opened hospital in The Woodlands, to a six-hospital system with broad geographic reach in the Greater Houston region. During David’s ten years of service, St. Luke’s has improved in virtually all metrics of importance within the healthcare industry, including quality-of-care, community service and profitability. From June 2012 until June 2013, David was among the principal architects of the Member substitution of Catholic Health Initiatives for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, which has funded the formation of the largest healthcare philanthropy in the State of Texas, the Episcopal Health Foundation.”

Fine has more than 30 years of experience as chief executive officer of university hospitals, multi-hospital systems, medical groups, and managed care organizations. Concurrent with his management responsibilities, Fine has held university teaching and research appointments for most of his career, including five years as a tenured Professor of Health Services Administration and Senior Scholar in the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Fine is presently a tenured Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and is Professor of Management Practice at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. Fine is the author of four textbooks, 14 book chapters and 50 refereed-articles, published reviews and other scholarly writings.

“As CHI’s research and innovation arm, CIRI plays a critical role in CHI’s mission to advance health in the communities we serve,” said Kevin Lofton, CHI’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “I am pleased that David will bring his expertise to this important work. He has a unique career combination of high-level management practice, research and teaching. We appreciate David’s many contributions to the development of St. Luke’s Health System as a leading healthcare system in Houston. Under his tenure, SLHS has been recognized by state, national and international organizations for achievements in quality and leadership. ”

Founded in 2007, CIRI provides a national infrastructure for research and clinical trials, innovations in processes and technology, and significant clinical data and biospecimen resources to further personalized medicine. CIRI employs a national staff of research and innovation specialists, experts in business development, information technology, finance, compliance and legal matters to help CHI affiliates gain access to treatments, devices and clinical protocols that may otherwise be unavailable.

Cliff Robertson, MD, a native of Austin, TX, has served as the chief operating officer of the Franciscan Health System since March 2009. He joined the organization in July 1995 as a family physician. He was named president and chief medical officer of the Franciscan Medical Group network of primary-care and specialty-care clinics, physicians and other professional providers in 1999 and served in that role for 10 years. The medical group became one of the premier multi-specialty physician networks in the Pacific Northwest under his leadership. Dr. Robertson also has more than 15 years of business leadership experience, both in health care and as the chief executive officer of a private business franchise. He earned a degree in medicine from Ohio State College of Medicine in Columbus and completed both his residency and internship in family practice at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma. Dr. Robertson also has a master’s degree in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, WA.

About St. Luke’s Health System

St. Luke’s Health System (StLukesTexas.com/media) includes: St. Luke’s Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital; St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital; St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital; St. Luke’s Patients Medical Center; St. Luke’s Hospital at The Vintage. St. Luke’s is home to the Texas Heart® Institute, which was founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD. Affiliated with several nursing schools and three medical schools, St. Luke’s Medical Center was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence, receiving the award three times.

About Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health system with headquarters in Englewood, Colo. The faith-based system operates in 18 states and includes 86 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; two academic medical centers; two community health-services organizations; two accredited nursing colleges; and home health agencies. Currently, CHI ranks as the nation’s third-largest faith-based health system, with annual operating revenues of $11 billion and approximately 88,000 employees.

Contacts

St. Luke’s Health System
David King, MSHA, 832-355-8701
AVP, Corporate Communications
dking@sleh.com
or
Catholic Health Initiatives
Michael Romano, 303-549-8948
National Director, Media Relations

Release Summary

David J. Fine, president and chief executive officer of St. Luke's Health System (SLHS), has accepted a position as president of a national research institute operated by Catholic Health Initiatives.

Contacts

St. Luke’s Health System
David King, MSHA, 832-355-8701
AVP, Corporate Communications
dking@sleh.com
or
Catholic Health Initiatives
Michael Romano, 303-549-8948
National Director, Media Relations