CHIME Names Ed Czopek CFO and Tim Stettheimer VP of Education

Czopek served as CFO at HFMA; Stettheimer was a regional CIO at Ascension

ANN ARBOR, MI, May 21, 2018 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has added two prominent executives to its leadership team. Edwin Czopek, MBA, and Timothy Stettheimer, Ph.D., will assume the roles of chief financial officer and vice president of education, respectively, beginning today.

A certified public accountant, Czopek retired from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) in 2017 after a 20-year career that included being the chief financial officer, executive vice president and senior vice president. At HFMA, he led efforts to drive positive changes, including timely and transparent financial performance reporting; implementation of a balanced score card that helped to increase profitability, eliminate the use of investment income to fund normal operations, and improve employee satisfaction; supported formal training and processes to better serve members; and spearheaded a strategy to move to cloud-based technologies, among many other efforts that benefited the association and its members. He previously worked for the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and several CPA firms.  

Stettheimer served as a regional CIO for Ascension, the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, from 2005 to 2018. He concurrently was the senior vice president and CIO at St. Vincent Health System in Alabama from 2003 to 2014. As regional CIO, he oversaw strategic and tactical IT initiatives for the 55 acute care hospitals in the South and Central region of Ascension, which included 691 direct reports and an operating budget of $405 million. Under his leadership, Ascension saved more than $393 million in operational costs and implemented several initiatives to improve patient care and efficiencies across the enterprise. Prior to joining Ascension, he worked at Adventist Health System in Florida and Children’s Health in Dallas.

“We are thrilled to have Ed and Tim join our amazing team at CHIME,” said Russell Branzell, CHIME’s President and CEO. “Both are outstanding in their profession, with long histories of leading by example and strategically driving change. Ed has extensive senior-level financial and operations experience in tax-exempt organizations and will bring strong financial acumen and leadership to CHIME. Tim has been a long-time CHIME member with extensive experience participating as a faculty member in numerous education programs, including more than 12 years of service as a Healthcare CIO Boot Camp faculty member.”  

Czopek will be CHIME’s first CFO since its launch in 1992. He is a CPA, a Certified Association Executive and a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He is a fellow of the HFMA and is affiliated with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois CPA Society, the American Society of Association Executives and the Association Forum. He received an MBA from Roosevelt University and a bachelor of science in commerce from DePaul University.

“It is an honor to join an organization that is so dedicated to its membership,” Czopek said. “CHIME members bridge the clinical and administrative communities I served at the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and at HFMA. This is a perfect fit for me, and a great opportunity to be among healthcare leaders who are passionate about making lives better, not only in the U.S. but globally.”

Stettheimer will oversee CHIME’s educational programs, which include two annual forums in the U.S., two annual boot camps, a growing roster of regional and international academic initiatives, online services, and more. He has served as the CHIME 2010 Board Chair, the 2011 CHIME Foundation Board Chair and the 2014 CHIME Education Foundation Board Chair.

He is a fellow with CHIME and the American College of Healthcare Executives; holds Certified Healthcare CIO and certified professional in healthcare information management systems credentials. In 2006, he received the prestigious John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year award from CHIME and HIMSS. He earned a doctorate in information sciences with a focus in medical informatics from the University of North Texas, a master’s degree in applied cognition and neuroscience from the University of Texas, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hardin-Simmons University.

“Education is a fundamental pillar at CHIME, so the opportunity to build on what is already a strong program is phenomenal,” Stettheimer said. “Both domestic and international membership has been expanding; now we are looking for ways to help all members – no matter where they are geographically or in their careers – grow and excel as leaders. As a long-time CHIME faculty member, I am excited about the many resources we have and the many more we will be able to offer.”   

CHIME has instituted several executive-level changes this year as well. Michelle Patterson was named vice president of operations earlier this year after taking on the role of interim vice president of operations in late 2017. In addition, Gretchen Tegethoff, vice president of CHIME Technologies, assumed the role of vice president of business services earlier this month.

About CHIME

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,600 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners 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
Candace Stuart
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]