Cincinnati Children’s names next COO

Evaline Alessandrini, MD, to join executive leadership team

Friday, November 05, 2021

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center announced Nov. 5 that Evaline Alessandrini, MD, will be the next chief operating officer of the region’s largest hospital system.

Alessandrini, 59, will succeed Steve Davis, MD, who will begin his duties as president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s on Nov. 22.

A pediatrician who previously worked at Cincinnati Children’s for 8½ years, Alessandrini was clearly the best choice for the job, Davis said.

“She brings an energy and a passion for making things better – and that inspires the people she works with to excel,” Davis said of Alessandrini. “She can take on just about anything and put a team together and have it functioning really well. Evie is one of those people who when you’re done working with her, you can’t wait for the next project.”

Alessandrini is expected to join Cincinnati Children’s by January 2022. She is currently chief medical officer, interim chief operations officer, and executive vice president for UC Health, the hospital system affiliated with the University of Cincinnati. Alessandrini joined UC Health in November 2017 as chief medical officer after previously serving on the system’s board of directors while an employee of Cincinnati Children’s.

“I'm coming back to Cincinnati Children’s because I love designing, building, and continuously evaluating structures – physical and organizational systems that deliver healthcare that quickly gets the best outcomes, experience, and value for kids,” Alessandrini said. “That's what I love to do. And so, the opportunity to do that for kids – and help all 16,500 of the medical center’s employees flourish in achieving that vision – is a gift. I’m so excited about taking on that ongoing challenge with the team at Cincinnati Children’s.

“I’m aligned with the vision of being the leader in improving child health, and there is no space between me and the core values of Cincinnati Children's,” Alessandrini added. “Those core values of telling the truth, making a difference, respecting everyone – that’s what drew me to Cincinnati Children’s to begin with. I had 8½ amazing years there, where I learned, truly, how to be the leader in improving child health.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Alessandrini has played a key role in coordinating the response of local hospitals. As co-chair of the Regional COVID-19 Hospital Steering Committee – along with Davis – she helped create policies and procedures designed to ensure the best care for patients and to safeguard healthcare workers.

Cincinnati Children's is the region's second largest employer – a $2.7 billion nonprofit with a workforce of more than 16,500 people. The medical center’s 1.38 million patient encounters in 2020 benefited children from all 50 states and 51 countries, including those treated for complex or rare disorders.

Alessandrini first joined Cincinnati Children’s in 2009, serving as director of the Place Outcomes Research Program and director of the Quality Scholars Program in Healthcare Transformation. In 2011, she rose to be assistant vice president of outcomes systems within the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence, which entailed leading quality initiatives across Cincinnati Children’s that focused on disease-specific outcome improvement.

Before working at Cincinnati Children’s, Alessandrini was director of clinical transformation at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 2007-09. She was co-director of CHOP’s Emergency Medicine Fellowship Training Program 2003-07, and she was the managed care liaison for the Division of Emergency Medicine, Children’s Health Net, from 1996-2002.

Currently, Alessandrini is on the board of REDI Cincinnati, also known as the Regional Economic Development Initiative, which is a nonprofit dedicated to driving job creation and investment in the Cincinnati region. She also is on the board of the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the American Heart Association.

Alessandrini received the Clinical Chair Award from Cincinnati Children’s in 2016, and she was named a Healthcare Hero in the manager category by the Cincinnati Business Courier in 2020. She was recognized as one of the Top Women in Healthcare and Information Technology in 2021 by the Health Collaborative, which includes hospitals throughout Greater Cincinnati.

Born and raised in Wilmington, Del., Alessandrini received a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1984 from Marquette University in Milwaukee. She earned a medical degree in 1988 from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Alessandrini received a master’s in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics in 1999 from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Alessandrini served a residency as a new doctor from 1988-91 at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where she was chief resident 1991-92. She served a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine from 1992-95 at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.