Linda Gilligan and Sharon Myers Named Executives for Joint Venture with Saudi Aramco

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that Linda Gilligan, M.B.A., M.S., and Sharon Myers, R.N., M.S.N., M.S.B., have been named chief operating officer and chief quality and safety officer, respectively, for the new joint venture between Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) and Saudi Aramco, a world leader in energy.

They join Chief Executive Officer Keith Vander Kolk, M.A., M.B.A., B.B.A., and Chief Nursing Officer Zeina Khouri-Stevens, R.N., Ph.D., as members of the executive team for a new health care organization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia designed to strengthen the system and establish population health strategies for Saudi Aramco's 350,000 employees, beneficiaries and retirees.

Linda has been with Johns Hopkins Medicine for more than a decade and most recently served in a three-part role: as vice president for finance and administration and chief operating officer for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, as vice president of Johns Hopkins Medical Services Corporation, and as chief operating officer for the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians. She provided oversight of information services, training, clinical operations, finance and billing, payer contracting and credentialing, decision support and planning, and physician negotiations and integration, while also developing and supporting ongoing physician operations and strategies.

Sharon has divided her career in nursing and quality management between the United States (including several positions with The Johns Hopkins Hospital) and the Middle East. She is one of two nurses who were the first to graduate with a combined graduate degree in nursing and business from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. During her tenure as quality management officer for the Veterans Health Administration Mid-South Atlantic Integrated Network, she was selected to work on national task forces for patient safety, value in health care, a medical home model and development of core competencies for quality professionals.

Saudi Aramco is also filling several executive positions. Mahmoud A. Al-Zaiyat has been appointed chief information officer. Mahmoud joined Saudi Aramco in 1996 and since 2009 led its health care applications division.

Since the signing of the joint venture agreement in June, a transition team of leaders from JHI and Saudi Aramco have focused on preparing for the launch of the new company that will bring enhanced specialty and subspecialty services, plus many new patient safety, research and education programs to address some of the most significant health care issues in the Middle East.

Sharon has joined the rest of the executive team on-site in Dhahran, and Linda will join them by the end of this month. The new company will become operational in February under this team's leadership.

We hope you share in our excitement about this partnership and in supporting Linda and Sharon as we fulfill our mission of improving the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Steven J. Thompson, M.B.A.
Chief Executive Officer, Johns Hopkins Medicine International
Sr. Vice President, Johns Hopkins Medicine