Veterans Affairs' top doctor joins nation's largest health system

By Leila Ugincius

The country's largest, for-profit health system has picked a three-time Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus as its chief medical officer.

Jonathan Perlin, undersecretary for health for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, earned all three of his graduate degrees — a master's in health administration, a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology and an M.D. — from VCU. He will become chief medical officer and senior vice president of quality at the Nashville-based HCA Inc. on Aug. 17.

Perlin is no stranger to overseeing quality care. Prior to joining Veterans Affairs, he was medical director for quality improvement at the VCU Medical Center. In his current position he also served as CEO of the $30 billion Veteran's Health Administration, overseeing 200,000 employees at 1,300 health care facilities.

"VA's health care is now ranked as one of the best in the country, and much of that credit belongs to Dr. Perlin," Larry T. Craig, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a press release. "Jon Perlin is a visionary, a gentleman and a scholar. He is going to be tough to replace."

As senior vice president at HCA, Perlin will monitor and improve quality throughout the health system. He will be responsible for patient safety initiatives and the system's quality review system, which helps improve hospital clinical quality.

HCA has approximately 180 hospitals nationwide.