OU Health Names Richard Lofgren, M.D., MPH, as CEO, an Inaugural Role for the Newly Integrated Health System

The OU Health Board of Directors on Feb. 4 announced Richard Lofgren, MD, MPH, FACP, as CEO of OU Health, Oklahoma’s only integrated, comprehensive academic health system.

Lofgren comes to Oklahoma from UC Health in Cincinnati, where he has served as president and CEO since 2013. His executive experience in healthcare spans more than 40 years and includes leadership roles at University HealthSystem Consortium, University of Kentucky, Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Pittsburgh. Lofgren will be onsite in Oklahoma City beginning in mid-March. A continuity and transition plan between OU Health and UC Health begins immediately.

Lofgren will fill OU Health’s inaugural CEO position. The new position was created as part of a historic merger in July of 2021 making OU Health Oklahoma’s only fully integrated, comprehensive academic health system. Lofgren is a national thought leader within academic healthcare, and is an expert in health system transformations and redesign, with a track record of uniting hospitals, clinics and centers into a single health system with a unified purpose.

As CEO of OU Health, he will lead the overall health system and report directly to the OU Health Board of Directors. He will be responsible for the strategic vision, clinical and operational direction, strategic growth, quality and safety, financial performance, and ongoing integration of OU Health.

“We are very excited to announce Dr. Lofgren as the CEO of OU Health. He is uniquely qualified to lead our health system as we create a seamless experience for our patients and provide the highest-quality, research-driven healthcare,” said G. Rainey Williams, Jr., Board Chair of the OU Health Board of Directors. “Dr. Lofgren’s experience is perfectly suited to advance our newly integrated health system as we transform health for all Oklahomans. He brings incredible experience and vision to OU Health as we transform into a single entity with leading clinical programs for the citizens of our state.”

Lofgren earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He completed an internal medicine residency and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, serving as chief resident during his final year.

Lofgren has worked in accelerated leadership roles over the course of his lengthy career, most recently as the president and CEO of UC Health, the affiliated academic health system of the University of Cincinnati. He led the organizational transformation into a premier academic referral center, garnering unprecedented growth, expansion of services and process improvement across the system.

Prior to his tenure as CEO of UC Health, Lofgren held physician leadership roles that focused on executing large strategic visions, including healthcare redesign that elevates quality outcomes and operational efficiencies.

“Dr. Lofgren is a seasoned and visionary physician chief executive officer with expertise and experience that perfectly suits him to shepherd the strategic vision of OU Health,” said Joseph Harroz, Jr., OU President and OU Health Board of Directors member. “He will lead OU Health as we transform into a healthcare model that is enjoyed by the healthiest states in the nation. Because of Dr. Lofgren’s leadership ability and his deep commitment to academic healthcare, we are well positioned to optimize all three components of our mission – patient care, research and education – to improve the health of all Oklahomans.”

In addition to his expertise as a CEO, Lofgren brings considerable experience in the tripartite mission of academic healthcare. As an academic physician, Lofgren served as a tenured faculty member while at University of Kentucky, Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Pittsburgh. Throughout his career, he has earned 14 awards for teaching excellence in academic healthcare and created two different health services research centers aimed at improving healthcare outcomes for veterans. Lofgren has been a funded researcher and has numerous publications and scholarly contributions spanning his 40 year career.

Lofgren comes to Oklahoma after years in the Midwest. He has a wife of 43 years, three adult daughters and five grandchildren.

“I’d like to thank the OU Health Board of Directors for their confidence in my ability to lead OU Health in this inaugural role,” said Lofgren. “OU Health and the University of Oklahoma are uniquely positioned to transform healthcare across the state and region, and I’m looking forward to working with our physicians, providers, employees, the community, our state and our partners to realize the vision for a healthier Oklahoma.”