Steward Health Care of Arizona has selected Robert Patel, MD, MBA, as its new market chief medical officer.

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Patel will be instrumental in aligning best practices across all Steward hospitals, clinics, physician practices, and responsible for decisions related to patient safety and clinical quality assurance.

 “Dr. Patel brings a wealth of experience and expertise with him to the Steward family. He will be a tremendous asset to our health system and the community,” said Damon Brown, President of Mountain Vista Medical Center and Florence Hospital, as well as the Arizona Market President for Steward Health Care.

Prior to joining Steward, Dr. Patel served as the medical director of Banner/Aetna Care management in Phoenix where he provided leadership of the medical management activities and quality improvement initiatives for Banner’s acute care facilities, urgent care clinics, health center and clinics.  Dr. Patel has also held the positions of chief medical officer and president of Gila River Medical Group in Sacaton, as well as market chief medical officer/regional medical director for Corizon Health in Tempe, Arizona. He also led the development of a muti-specialty hospitalists group, Mid-Atlantic Medical Associates, in New Brunswick, New Jersey earlier in his career.

Dr. Patel received his medical degree from St. George’s School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies in 2001. He conducted his residency training at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri in 2004 and achieved a Master’s in Business Administration from the Isenberg School of Management in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2016. He is board certified in internal medicine and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Healthcare.  He also has completed a certification program in business analytics from Harvard Business School.

“I look forward to working closely with all the outstanding and talented physicians and colleagues at Steward Health Care,” said Dr. Patel. “Steward has a long-standing commitment to serving the health care needs of its patients and I welcome the opportunity to promote excellence in patient care and program growth for Steward.”

For more information about Steward Health Care, please visit www.steward.org.