Charles Pinson, MD MBA

BIOGRAPHY
C. WRIGHT PINSON, M.B.A., M.D.
Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Dr. Pinson graduated with distinction in Physics from the University of Colorado in 1974, and while working as an engineer for IBM, he earned an MBA in 1976. He then earned his MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1980. He trained in general surgery (OHSU), hepatobiliary surgery (Lahey Clinic) and transplant surgery (Harvard/New England Deaconess Hospital). He has been boarded in surgery and in critical care.
He joined the faculty at Oregon Health Sciences University in Surgery and in Physiology in 1988. Dr. Pinson initiated the first liver transplantation program in the Pacific Northwest and the first liver transplantation program in the Veterans Administration system. He was recruited in 1990 to Vanderbilt University as Professor of Surgery to start the liver transplant program and liver surgery division. In 1993-2004 he was the Interim Chair, Vice-Chair and Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He was program director for the Vanderbilt General Surgery Residency Program (1993-1995). He was Director of the Transplant Center (1993-2011) overseeing 6500 transplantations He has been an active clinical and laboratory investigator in transplantation surgery leading to 300 publications, receiving numerous grants, and the Grant Liddle research-mentoring award. In 2008, he co-founded the Masters in Management in Health Care degree program and is a Professor in the Owen Graduate School of Business.
He served as Chief of Staff of the Vanderbilt Hospitals (1997-2004). From 2004 to 2009, as the Associate Vice-Chancellor for Clinical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, he was responsible for VUMC business development and VUMC quality and safety programs, developing 800 clinical care pathways. Dr. Pinson became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Executive Officer of the Vanderbilt Health System in 2009. This integrated system includes 2,000 academic clinical physicians, four hospitals, 800 clinics in 130 locations with a budget of $4.0 billion/yr. The system has grown 50% during his tenure, including several hospital bed expansions, the 100 Oaks clinic, and many other outpatient, walk-in and retail clinic facilities and acquisitions. As President of Vanderbilt Health Services, he reorganized the operations of this holding company for 22 joint ventures. Beginning in 2011, he championed organization of a fast-growing provider network. Today he serves as President and Chairman of the Board of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, a 67-hospital affiliated system covering Tennessee and now expanding outside the state.
He received the Nashville Business Journal Innovator in Health Care Award in 2009, and the TJ Martell Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. The American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA) gave him their Distinguished Service award in 2015, and the next year the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA) bestowed their Distinguished Service award, both highlighting his accomplishments as an academic surgeon. In 2016, he received the Regional Healthcare Executive of the Year Award from The American College of Healthcare Executives. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the Nashville Healthcare Council and is past President of the American Heart Association of Middle Tennessee. For 6 years, he has been the Chairman of the Board of the Governor’s Foundation for the Health and Wellness of Tennessee, He currently serves on the Board of the Nashville Areas Chamber of Commerce, currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Tennessee Hospital Association, and is in his fourth year as a member of American Hospital Association Health Care Systems Council.
Financial relationships
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