Inova names new CEO

Dr. J. Stephen Jones, a high-ranking Cleveland Clinic official, has been named the new CEO of Inova Health System.

Jones will succeed longtime Inova CEO Knox Singleton on April 9. Singleton announced his plans to retire in September.

The new CEO will oversee a health system with 17,500 employees, five hospitals and a network of health-care facilities serving more than 2 million patients annually.

Jones, a urological oncologist, is the president of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals and Health Centers, which include 11 regional hospitals, 23 large ambulatory centers and more than 24,000 caregivers and medical staff.

Tony Nader, chairman of Inova’s board of trustees, said Jones stood out among the candidates for job. “He is a dynamic leader, a practicing physician and a strategist who is deeply committed to patients and the community. He has shown vision that leads to results,” Nader said in a statement.

Jones said he was highly impressed with Inova. “All of the pieces are in place for Inova to be the premier health system on the eastern seaboard. Key to achieving this will be to build upon the strong research and academic programs already in place that help us attract top physicians,” he said in a statement.

Jones became president of Cleveland Clinic’s regional hospitals in late 2014, leading them through a strategic transformation. He expanded the health-care system, increased the use of telemedicine, established 24 Express Care locations for patient-oriented primary care and rebranded all hospitals under the Cleveland Clinic brand.

He previously served as Cleveland Clinic’s vice president for regional operations, chief of surgical operations, chair of the Department of Regional Urology and vice chair of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute.

Before joining the Cleveland Clinic, Jones was chair of the Department of Urological Surgery at the St. John’s Springfield Clinic (now Mercy) in Springfield, Mo.