Shereef Elnahal Named OHSU’s Sixth President

In a unanimous vote, the Oregon Health & Science University Board of Directors today selected Shereef Elnahal, M.D., M.B.A., to serve as OHSU’s next president. He is the sixth president to lead Oregon’s public academic health center since it became an independent organization in 1974.

“I am thrilled that OHSU’s brilliant community has entrusted me with this important responsibility,” said Elnahal. “OHSU is an organization that exudes clinical excellence, servant leadership, and world-changing science. Joining this community will be the honor of my professional life, and I pledge to lead OHSU’s superlative team to even greater milestones of success and impact into the future.” 

Elnahal was selected by the board after a months-long national search that included interviews with nearly 200 OHSU members, a public presentation to the OHSU community, and a comprehensive review of feedback submitted by hundreds of learners and employees, as well as external partners and collaborators. 

“Throughout a competitive and extensive search process, Dr. Elnahal demonstrated his ability to inspire and lead complex organizations, while remaining committed to his values, which align with OHSU’s mission,” said OHSU Board of Directors Chair Chad Paulson, J.D. “The board firmly believes he has the attributes needed to strengthen and grow OHSU’s impact and reputation on a national scale.”

Prior to joining OHSU, Elnahal most recently was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden to serve as Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 21, 2022, with a bipartisan vote. In this role he led, alongside a team of nearly 400,000 professionals, the largest academic health system in the nation. The VA delivers world-class care to 9 million enrolled Veterans, and trains more than122,000 health professionals across more than 60 clinical disciplines, including medicine, nursing, psychology, pharmacy and physical therapy. The VA also is affiliated with 95% of medical schools and academic health systems in America, including OHSU, with more than 1,800 affiliations with health professions schools of all types.

“This is an exciting time for OHSU,” said OHSU Interim President Steve Stadum, J.D. “Dr. Elnahal’s experience, skills and values align perfectly with the needs of our university, and I believe he will be a transformational leader.”

During his tenure with the VA, Dr. Elnahal oversaw the Veterans Health Administration’s implementation of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, the largest expansion of Veteran benefits and care in a generation. Implementation of the law began in August of 2022, and under Elnahal’s watch, two years later, the VA enrolled more than 800,000 new Veterans into health care, and upgraded health care coverage for more than 900,000 Veterans already enrolled in VA. 

Despite this large increase in demand, the VA improved access to care — an ongoing and pressing challenge for hospitals and health systems across Oregon — by growing appointment volumes, expanding infrastructure through innovative partnerships with top medical institutions and the Department of Defense, and more. After Elnahal initiated system-wide hiring and retention initiatives, which also helped reduce average new patient wait times for primary care and mental health, the VA is now better staffed with clinicians than at any point in its history.

Under his leadership, the VA grew care delivery in all services and improved ambulatory care productivity by 9% in two years. He has also advanced care access for women Veterans, including extending maternity care coordination benefits for up to one year after birth for Veteran mothers to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality risks, and enrolling more than 50,000 new women Veterans into health care over the last year. For the first time in the VA’s history, he also made policy that allowed clinicians in the VA to offer abortion counseling and services to pregnant Veterans with threats to their life and health.

Prior to his role at the VA, Elnahal served as President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospital in Newark, NJ. University Hospital is a Level I trauma center, the principal academic medical center for Rutgers NJ Medical School, and New Jersey’s only public hospital. Elnahal led University Hospital through the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the hospital served as a model for urban and regional response efforts. In addition, New Jersy Gov. Phil Murphy tasked the hospital with coordinating regional pandemic response efforts across dozens of hospitals in northern New Jersey, as well as with activating a military field hospital alongside the National Guard.

In addition to his leadership during the pandemic, Elnahal oversaw substantial improvements in care quality and patient safety at the hospital, leading to improvements against national benchmarks.  Elnahal also improved University Hospital financially, which, when he started, was almost out of cash and had been experiencing significant operating losses. Due in part to the turnaround under his tenure, Fitch recently upgraded University Hospital’s Issuer Default Rating, or IDR, and revenue bond rating to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BB-‘. The upgrade reflected the hospital’s strengthened financial position, including improved liquidity and better revenue cycle management.  

Underpinning this turnaround was Elnahal’s work, through a series of important moves, to increase revenues and capture efficiencies, while regaining the trust of the hospital’s staff and community. He established new and fair contracts with the hospital’s seven unions. He also engaged the community meaningfully in the hospital’s programming, to include a partnership with the NJ Housing and Mortgage Financing Authority to provide supportive housing to homeless patients; a hospital-based violence intervention program that has served as a national model; and a program that deploys trusted chaplains to serve as community health workers.

Elnahal received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his master’s in business administration, with distinction, from Harvard Business School. He also was appointed by President Barack Obama to the 2015-16 class of White House Fellows. His perspective on the American health care system’s COVID-19 response, including on matters of health equity, has been featured on national media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and Fox Business Network. 

Elnahal, 40, and his wife, Marwa, have four children ages 1 to 9. He plays guitar and electric bass, enjoys fitness and the outdoors, and plans to take advantage of Oregon’s natural beauty with his family as much as he can when he arrives.