Press Release

CINCINNATI, OH (October 3, 2024) – UC Health announced that industry-veteran Charmaine Rochester will join their academic health system as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

With over 30 years of experience, her past employers have included organizations such as KPMG, Bon Secours Hampton Roads, and Penn Medicine. Most recently, Rochester was with the Cleveland Clinic Florida, serving as both CFO and a strategic partner to the CEO as the organization expanded operations in the state.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charmaine Rochester as our new Chief Financial Officer,” said Cory Shaw, President and CEO of UC Health. “Her deep expertise and strategic vision will extend our financial resilience while driving the growth that is crucial for our health system to meet the changing needs of patients in our region.”

"I am thrilled to join UC Health, an organization renowned for its excellence and impact. I can't wait to collaborate with its exceptional team to support advancing health outcomes across the region," said Rochester, who will officially begin her role in October.

Rochester holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Howard University, and an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. She also has a Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) from Central Michigan University. She is a certified public accountant (CPA) and is a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (FHFMA) and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). She assumes responsibility from Rick Hinds, who is retiring after a 30-year career with UC Health.

Welcoming New Leadership to Strengthen Clinical Excellence and Patient Care

In July, the academic health system also announced a new dyad partnership for its executive leadership team in a move designed to spearhead UC Health’s operational excellence and high reliability standards.

Art Pancioli, MD, will assume the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at UC Health while continuing to serve as a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UC College of Medicine. In this new role, Dr. Pancioli will lead efforts to improve the quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient safety, project management, infection prevention, accreditation, and clinical effectiveness. He will

partner with UC Physicians, LLC, to advance the academic health system’s unique mission of advancing medical research and education while improving the health of all people.

Dr. Pancioli’s 30-year legacy with the UC College of Medicine and UC Health as an emergency medicine physician includes serving as the Richard C. Levy professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine, where he led the University of Cincinnati’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also the physician leader for the expansion of UC Medical Center’s new Emergency Department.

As Emergency Medicine Chair, Dr. Pancioli led groundbreaking neurological emergency and stroke research and established the first stroke and neurocritical care fellowships for emergency physicians in the nation.

Rob Wiehe has also assumed an expanded role as UC Health’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, in which he will oversee both hospital and ambulatory clinical operations for the health system. Wiehe will work closely in partnership with Dr. Pancioli to ensure a seamless continuum of care for our patients, physicians, and clinical staff.

Wiehe was previously responsible for UC Health hospital operations, including two acute care hospitals and one post-acute hospital as the Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer-Hospital Division. He also previously served as the Chief Administrative Officer at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, helping achieve two additional star rankings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

As Greater Cincinnati’s only academic health system, UC Health employees over 10,500 and serves patients from across the United States in over two million visits annually. In partnership with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, UC Health combines clinical expertise and compassion with research and teaching to provides patients with treatment options for even the most complex situations.

The health system includes four inpatient campuses, 70+ outpatient offices and nationally recognized specialty care centers, including the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center and the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. To learn more about UC Health’s leadership team, visit UCHealth.com/leadership.