Health Care 2023: MAUREEN H. McBRIDE

In April, after serving as interim CEO for seven months, McBride became the first woman to lead UNOS, the beleaguered nonprofit that operates the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

Following years of criticism over problems such as discarded or damaged organs, long waiting lists and technological issues, Congress voted in late July to allow U.S. health officials to solicit competing bids for the transplant system, effectively breaking the monopoly UNOS has held since Congress established it in 1984. How the Health Resources and Services Administration will revamp the system and what role UNOS may play remains to be seen.

As CEO, McBride directs 472 employees, mostly in Virginia. UNOS facilitated a record 42,887 transplants in 2022, setting a global record for the third year in a row. Total annual kidney transplants exceeded 25,000 for the first time last year.

McBride succeeded Brian Shepard, who left last year after leading UNOS for nearly a decade. She has been with the organ network since 1995 and served as director of research until 2014, when she became the nonprofit’s chief operating officer overseeing the federal OPTN contract, for which she still serves as executive director.