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Children's National Names Two Chief Medical Officers

Washington, DC – Denice Cora-Bramble, MD, MBA, FAAP, and David Wessel, MD, have been named joint Chief Medical Officers of Children’s National Medical Center. The dual appointment addresses the complexities of the evolving healthcare landscape and positions Children’s National to lead in population health management.

“As the healthcare economy changes, pediatric hospitals must have strong leadership in many areas simultaneously,” said Kurt Newman, MD, President and CEO, Children’s National. “We must focus on developing ambulatory and community health programs that keep children healthy and out of the hospital, while at the same time we must maintain high quality, specialty care delivery for children who do need hospital-based care.”

Denice Cora-Bramble, MD, MBA, FAAP, currently Senior Vice President of the Diana L. and Stephen A. Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health and Acting Executive Vice President, Ambulatory Services, will be Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer for Ambulatory and Community Health Services. This position reflects the realities of reform, a shift to a population health and value-based model and a focus on patient-centered medical homes. Dr. Cora-Bramble, dual trained in pediatrics and business, is a recognized national leader and is the recipient of the Academic Pediatric Association’s Health Care Delivery Award. She will oversee efforts focused on clinical integration across the care continuum and population strategies that strengthen the healthcare delivered to children outside the hospital setting.

David Wessel, MD, is currently Senior Vice President of the Center for Hospital-Based Specialties, which includes a nationally ranked neonatology team, and one of the only dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care units in the country. He will serve as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer for Hospital and Specialty Services, where he will lead Children’s ongoing focus on providing the best inpatient and subspecialty care available, including ensuring that Children’s infrastructure defines a world-class pediatric hospital. Dr. Wessel is board certified in pediatrics, anesthesiology, pediatric critical care, and pediatric cardiology, and was recently recognized by the American Heart Association with the Meritorious Achievement Award in recognition of his significant impact in clinical care and research in the field of pediatric cardiovascular disease.

“Both leaders have the depth of experience, as well as academic and teaching achievements in their respective fields, and are familiar faces at Children’s National,” said Dr. Newman. “The Board, search committee, and Children’s National leadership, believe that this unique, dual Chief Medical Officer appointment creates a clinical leadership team that anticipates the increasing need to focus on these two characteristically different spheres of healthcare delivery. We believe that this model will facilitate innovation in pediatric healthcare delivery and ensure integration of research while increasing our focus on community healthcare and advocacy.”  

Contact: Paula Darte or Emily Hartman, Public Relations: 202.476.4500.

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