New CEO brings administrative leadership, optimism to UHC

Dr. Dan Jones, vice chancellor for health affairs, talks with Dr. William Ferniany, the new associate vice chancellor for health systems and chief executive officer of University Hospitals and Clinics.

The University Hospitals and Clinics’ (UHC) exuberant new chief executive officer intends to help push UHC to one of the foremost health care institutions throughout the Southeast.

Dr. Will Ferniany, associate vice chancellor for health systems and chief executive officer of UHC, joins the Medical Center with 31 years of health care administration experience after spending 14 years in administration at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

“The University of Mississippi Medical Center is an excellent institution,” Ferniany said. “I am really attracted to the mission of the Medical Center which is to train health care professionals, to provide exemplary patient care, and to expand the body of basic and applied knowledge.”

A native of Mobile, Ala., Ferniany earned the BS at the University of Alabama and the MS in hospital and health administration and the PhD in administration-health services at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He began his career as an assistant administrator at Bryce State Psychiatric Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He then served as vice president for planning, research and development at Healthcare Services of America in Birmingham. In 1987, he became chief executive officer of Hill Crest Hospital in Birmingham.

He served as executive administrator of the Department of Psychiatry and chief executive officer of the UAB Psychiatric Hospital from 1988-1990, when he was promoted to associate administrator of strategic planning and market development.

He joined the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) in 1992 as associate executive vice president of marketing and strategic support, and in 1999 was promoted to senior vice president of professional services over the practice plan and primary care system. The same year, he also was promoted to chief administrative officer, where he was directly responsible for information systems, contact center, human resources, medical affairs, architectural services, real estate, construction, clinical engineering, international programs, and many other areas.

Some of Ferniany’s many accomplishments at UPHS include reorganizing the practice plan; implementing the PENN Medicine Coordination Program to provide efficiencies between the health system, the University and the School of Medicine; restructuring nurse recruitment and meeting all recruitment goals; and saving UPHS more than $43 million during a five-year period by developing system-wide outsourcing programs.

“Dr. Will Ferniany has the perfect background for our institution at this time,” said Dr. Dan Jones, UMC vice chancellor for health affairs. “He has a depth and breadth of experience in academic health care in both hospital and practice areas.

“He is highly qualified to lead our health system by education and experience. There is a great optimism throughout our organization about his leadership.

“He and his wife Dana will be a welcome addition to our Medical Center family and to the community.”

Ferniany said he and his wife wanted to move back to the South and were delighted to find that the Medical Center was looking for a hospital CEO.

“This Medical Center is a wonderful asset to the State of Mississippi,” he said. “I have been really impressed with the quality of the faculty, staff and the depth and breath of services provided. The facilities are excellent and the new adult hospital should easily be the best inpatient facility in the Southeast.

“I hope we can bring all the resources of the hospitals, the School of Medicine, University Physicians, the School of Nursing and the entire Medical Center together to make UMC all it can be. By working together, we should be able to significantly improve the health of the citizens of the state while providing an economic resource to the state.”