CHIME Announces New Board Members for 2018

ANN ARBOR, MI, Oct. 17, 2017 –The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is pleased to announce the election of three healthcare IT leaders to its board of trustees. Sheree McFarland, John Kravitz and Rusty Yeager will begin their terms on the CHIME Board of Trustees, starting Jan. 1, 2018.

“The quality of the candidates for this election was outstanding,” said CHIME Board Chair Liz Johnson, CIO of Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics at Tenet Healthcare Corporation. “We are blessed to have so many highly respected healthcare leaders who are willing to commit their time and expertise to advancing our industry. These three CIOs share a passion for giving back to CHIME and to their communities and thinking broadly about how healthcare IT can improve patient care.”

Sheree McFarland, CHCIO, has more than 28 years of healthcare IT experience, including 21 years with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). In 2005, she became the CIO of HCA’s Palm Harbor, Fla.-based West Florida Division. The West Florida Division includes 16 hospitals, 11 free-standing outpatient surgery centers, two imaging centers, 10 free-standing emergency departments and more than 50 physician practices.  She has been a member of CHIME for more than 20 years and is a Fellow and Lifetime Member of CHIME.

John Kravitz, CHCIO, has more than 25 years of healthcare IT experience. He is a senior vice president and CIO at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., where he is responsible for all areas of IT and all IT strategic planning, operational effectiveness and efficiencies. Geisinger is an integrated health services organization recognized for its innovative use of EHRs and the development of innovative care delivery models. The organization serves more than 3 million residents throughout 45 counties in central, south-central and northeast Pennsylvania and in southern New Jersey.

Rusty Yeager, CHCIO, also has more than 25 years of healthcare IT experience, including more than 16 years of increasing responsibilities at HealthSouth in Birmingham, Ala., where he is a senior vice president and CIO. HealthSouth is one of the nation’s largest providers of post-acute healthcare services in 33 states and Puerto Rico. His IT team supports 125 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 230 home health/hospice locations and more than 34,000 employees. He also served a Medical Services Corps officer specializing in healthcare IT and cybersecurity for the U.S. Air Force. In 2005, he and Motion Computing received a CHIME Collaboration Award honorable mention.

CHIME is also pleased to announce the election of Steve Eckert, president of Divurgent, to the CHIME Foundation Board. He has more than two decades of experience in senior and executive-level leadership positions at multiple industry-leading organizations. He has been an active member of CHIME for more than 10 years and served as an appointed Foundation Board member in 2017. He will begin his term on Jan. 1, 2018.

About CHIME

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,400 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

Contact