Gary R. Yates, MD is Sentara 's Chief Medical Officer. In that capacity, he is responsible for the clinical effectiveness programs, physician integration efforts, and medical management issues for its 6-hospital system and 320,000 member health plan. A board certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Yates is a member of the clinical faculty at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Yates joined Sentara in 1996 and has been responsible for developing Sentara's clinical effectiveness and patient safety initiatives. He provided leadership for the quality and patient safety initiatives leading to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital being recognized as the 2004 recipient of the AHA's Quest for Quality Award and Sentara Healthcare being recognized as the 2005 recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from JCAHO and the National Quality Forum.
He previously served as Chairman, Department of Family and Community Medicine and Chief Quality Officer for Maricopa Health System in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Yates also served three years as a judge for the Arizona Governor’s Award for Quality, as a member of the Executive Committee for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Quality Management Network and as co-chair of IHI's ninth annual Nation Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care. He currently serves as President of Virginians Improving Patient Care and Safety (VIPCS), the statewide patient safety consortium for Virginia. Dr. Yates was awarded the 2005 Physician Executive Award of Excellence from Modern Physician and the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE).
Dr. Yates is a nationally recognized thought leader on the role of Boards, Management and Physicians in accelerating the pace of improvement in quality and patient safety, creating a stronger culture of safety in healthcare organizations, and adapting strategies from high-reliability organizations in other industries to improve quality and safety in healthcare.
Presentation/Facilitation Topics
- Governance
- Patient Safety
- Quality Improvement
