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Leadership Team


WakeMed and its leadership is committed to being the best in the health care business. We continually offer new and improved medical services, build state-of-the-art, convenient facilities for our customers and hire the best and the brightest people to work in our organization — all in the name of providing a quality experience for the people we serve.

WakeMed Board of Directors

As a private, not-for-profit organization, WakeMed Health & Hospitals is governed by a 14-member volunteer Board of Directors who are representative of the communities we serve.  All inquiries for the Board should be directed to Roylyn Johnson, manager, Office of the Board & CEO at 919-350-8102 or RCJOHNSON@wakemed.org.

Executive Staff

donald gintzig

Donald R. Gintzig 

President & CEO

Seth Brody

Seth Brody, MD, MPH 

Executive Vice President & Chief Physician Executive

Gough Tom

Thomas Gough, MHA  

Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer

Rebecca Andrews

Rebecca E. Andrews, MSCL 

Senior Vice President & Administrator, Raleigh Campus

Valerie Barlow

Valerie Barlow, PharmD, MBA 

Senior Vice President & Administrator, WakeMed North Hospital

Cindy A. Boily

Cindy A. Boily, MSN, RN 

Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer

Karen Chilton

Karen Chilton, MD 

Senior Vice President & Chief Quality Officer 

Jeronica Goodwin, DHA

Jeronica Goodwin, DHA 

Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Chief People Officer 

Tom Hughes

Tom Hughes, MHA 

Senior Vice President & Administrator, WakeMed Cary Hospital

Carolyn Knaup

Carolyn Knaup, MHA, RN 

Senior Vice President, Strategic Ventures & Ambulatory Operations

Stephanie Sessoms

Stephanie Sessoms, MHA, CPA  

Senior Vice President, Finance 

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Tom Cavender

Thomas G. Cavender, PE 

Vice President, Facilities & Construction

Christine Craig

Christine Craig 

Vice President, Government Affairs

Waqiah Ellis

Waqiah Ellis, PhD, RN, NE-BC, BCC 

Vice President, Nursing, Raleigh Campus

Gayla Harvey

Gayla Harvey 

Vice President, Payor Strategy

Debra Z. Laughery

Debra Z. Laughery, MBA 

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Peter Marks

Peter Marks, PhD 

Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Jeff Niesen

Jeff Neisen, MBA 

Vice President, Revenue Cycle

John Perry

John Perry, MD 

Vice President, Medical Education

Rick Shrum

Rick Shrum, MBA, MHA 

Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer

Jodi Strong

Jodi Strong

Vice President, WakeMed Physician Practices Operations

Neal Chawla, MC

Neal Chawla, MD 

Chief Medical Information Officer

Karen Bash

Karen Bash, MD 

Chief Medical Officer, North Hospital

Chuck Harr

Charles Harr, MD, MBA 

Chief Medical Officer, Raleigh Campus

Chuck Harr

Doug Trocinski, MD 

Chief Medical Officer, Cary Hospital


Medical Staff

Our physicians represent nearly every medical and surgical specialty, with 90+% being either Board certified or Board eligible. Our physicians hold key leadership positions throughout the organization — current presidents of our Medical Staffs are as follows:

  • Raleigh Campus: Darlene Esper, MD – (WakeMed OB-GYN)
  • Cary Hospital: David Leader, DO – President (WEPPA)