Sheryl Thompson, MBA, CPA, serves as Vice President of Clinical Care Finance for Duke University Health System (DUHS) and Divisional Chief Financial Officer for Duke University Hospital (DUH). In this role, Thompson’s responsibilities include a wide range of activities supporting the hospital entities within DUHS, including monthly financial reporting, budget, capital, business planning & implementation, revenue management, and support of clinical laboratories finance.

Thompson also works in collaboration with the clinical departments of the School of Medicine on evolving funds flow, and on routine operating budgets and transactions with the Faculty Practice Plan - with a focus area of contracting for physician services and collaboration on business development.

Prior to joining Duke, Thompson served as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Memorial Hermann Health System – Katy & Cypress Hospitals in Katy and Cypress, Texas.

Thompson received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin and her MBA from North Carolina State University.

Thompson is originally from Houston, Texas and currently resides in Durham, NC with her husband and their son.

Chantal Howard, MSN, RN, CEN, NEA-BC serves as the Chief Nursing and Patient Care Officer (CNPCO) for Duke University Hospital and a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience.

In this role, Howard provides leadership, management, and fiscal responsibility for patient care services to achieve excellent patient care and enhance quality. Howard is also responsible for nursing practice across the continuum of care within the hospital and outpatient/ambulatory care services - delivering oversight and direction while establishing and maintaining a system for developing, reviewing, approving and disseminating standards for clinical practice.

Prior to her current role, Howard has served in multiple nursing leadership positions, including Vice President of Nursing, Director of Emergency Services, Director of Nursing for Cardiovascular Services, and Emergency Department Nurse Manager.

Howard holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing and is currently enrolled in the Duke University School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. Howard also holds two professional board certifications as an advanced nurse executive and emergency nursing.

Howard is active in the community and a member of several professional organizations including: the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Association for Nursing Leadership (AONL), the North Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders (NCONL), the Emergency Nursing Association (ENA), and the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN).

Howard currently serves on the board as President-elect for the North Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders, is a board member of the Wake County EMS Research Board, and is a member of the Wake County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Howard partnered with INTERACT, the domestic violence agency in Wake County, and Durham Crisis Center in Durham County to implement the lethality assessment program, which screens victims of domestic violence who are at high risk of being killed. She implemented one of Brooklyn, New York’s first Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Programs and has presented on both a state and national level on disaster management, stroke management, and nursing leadership.

Jonathan Bae, MD, CPPS serves as the Chief Quality Officer for Duke University Hospital, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Patient Safety and Clinical Quality for Duke University Health System and Associate Professor of Medicine for Duke University School of Medicine. Bae leads several health system quality programs including safety, survival improvement, and publicly reported reputation programs — as well as leading strategic planning efforts for quality of the clinical enterprise.

As Chief Quality Officer for Duke University Hospital, Bae is responsible for the overall clinical direction, leadership, and operational management of quality and safety programs. Bae's key areas of focus are reducing inpatient mortality, enhancing patient safety, hospital-based performance improvement, and improving workforce well-being.

Prior to his current role, Bae has served in several key roles in quality improvement and patient safety including, Medical Director for Mortality and Quality Review, Associate Medical Director for Quality for Hospital Medicine, and Chief Medical Resident for the Medicine Residency Program. 

Bae received his B.S. from Duke University and his MD from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed his Medicine and Pediatrics training at Duke University Medical Center. 

Bae is originally from Ellicott City, Maryland and currently lives with his wife and his two sons in Cary, NC.

Gregory Pauly, MHA is Group President of Acute Care Services for Duke University Health System, President of Duke University Hospital and Vice Dean of Clinical and Academic Integration for Duke University School of Medicine. In these roles, Pauly will provide oversight of the strategic direction, fiscal management, and program development for all acute care services across Duke University Health System, Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital campuses. As Vice Dean, Pauly will collaborate closely with clinical chairs, vice deans, IT leaders and other leaders in the School of Medicine and Duke University Health System to further strengthen the clinical and academic missions.

Prior to these roles, Pauly served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations for Mass General Brigham Health System and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Massachusetts General Physicans Organization (MGPO). During Pauly’s more than 20-year career at Mass General, Pauly developed multiple system-wide service lines, launched the capacity management program and led extensive work to reduce barriers to discharge and length of stay. Pauly was also instrumental in enhancing the integration with system physicians through new employment and compensation models as well as developing new plans for provider growth.

Pauly is an accomplished health care executive with proven experience in hospital operations, ambulatory practice management, strategic business planning, and clinical program development. With his vast experience in the operations and administration of a large academic medical center and ambulatory care network, Pauly brings a wealth of knowledge and visionary leadership.

Thomas Owens, MD, is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Duke University Health System. With more than two decades of experience at Duke Health, Dr. Owens serves as the principal senior leader overseeing health system operations, working with enterprise leaders across Duke Health to deliver outstanding clinical outcomes and remarkable patient experience across Duke’s network and the full continuum of care, from the hospital to ambulatory settings to care in homes and the community.

In his previous role as Senior Vice President, Dr. Owens managed DUHS-employed physicians, Duke Primary Care, Duke HomeCare and Hospice, Graduate Medical Education, population health management programs, and payer value-based contracts through Duke Connected Care. As President of Duke University Hospital, our academic medical center was consistently ranked as North Carolina’s No. 1 hospital for quality. In 2021, he and his DUH team opened the 350-bed, Duke Central Tower. 

In 2020, Dr. Owens played a critical role in leading DUHS’s COVID response, collaborating with state government officials, operational leaders and frontline team members to care for our community, patients, and team during the pandemic. In partnership with colleagues in the Private Diagnostic Clinic, community practices and the Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Owens served as DUHS’s lead executive in planning the Duke Health Integrated Practice, projected to open July 1, 2023.

Previous roles at DUHS and DUH include Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Chief of Duke Hospital Medicine Programs, Co-Director of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency programs, and more.

Dr. Owens received his M.D. with honors from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. He completed his Internal Medicine and Pediatrics training at Duke University Medical Center.

Terry McDonnell, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC is the Chief Nursing Executive and Senior Vice President at Duke University Health System, Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Duke University School of Nursing, and Watts College of Nursing, Board Chair. In her leadership role, she collaborates with Chief Nursing Officers and system leaders to foster a culture of belonging and purpose among frontline clinical teams, ensuring that patients and their families receive exceptional, patient-centered care. She continues to work as a Gastrointestinal Oncology Nurse Practitioner at Duke Cancer Institute.

Previously, McDonnell served as Vice President of Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, where she oversaw clinical operations and professional staff, enhancing the delivery of high-quality, patient-focused services. Her leadership and management skills were instrumental in the success of the center's operations. An acute care-certified nurse practitioner, she specializes in gastrointestinal cancers and is a Clinical Associate of Medicine at the University of Washington. McDonnell has also contributed as a clinical preceptor at Harvard Medical School and the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Recognized for her empowering leadership style, McDonnell excels in developing high-performing teams through collaboration and engagement. Her commitment to compassionate care has earned her several accolades, including the National Pancreas Foundation Compassionate Caregiver Award.

McDonnell holds undergraduate degrees in English and Economics from Boston College, a Master’s in Acute Care Nursing, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Administration from the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, an internationally recognized epidemiologist who has worked on the front lines of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 treatment and research, is the director of the Duke Global Health Institute.

Beyrer, who has worked on COVID-19 vaccine trials since 2020, currently serves as senior scientific liaison to the COVID-19 Vaccine Prevention Network. He is past president of the International AIDS Society, the world’s largest body of HIV professionals and has served as advisor to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the National Institutes of Health’s Office of AIDS Research, the U.S. Military HIV Research Program, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the Open Society Foundations, among numerous other organizations. The author of “War in the Blood: Sex, Politics and AIDS in Southeast Asia,” he has conducted collaborative research in Thailand for 30 years.

Before coming to Duke, Beyrer was the inaugural Desmond M. Tutu Professor of Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he also was a professor of epidemiology, international health, nursing and medicine. At Johns Hopkins, he directed the T32 Training Program in HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Science and served as associate director of the JHU Center for AIDS Research and the Center for Global Health. He was the founding director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights.

Beyrer received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014 and serves on the Academy’s Board for Global Health, and on the Committee for Human Rights.

Megan Haymaker was named Assistant Vice President, Community Hospitals HR, Duke University Health System, in October 2025. Before that she served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Duke Raleigh Hospital, a Campus of Duke University Hospital, and Interim Chief Human Resources Officer for the Duke University Health System Clinical Labs group.

Haymaker brings more than 18 years of healthcare experience to the team, with a strong background in healthcare, having previously served in a variety of HR leadership roles with Indiana University (IU) Health for over 15 years.

Haymaker is a tremendous asset to Duke Health and has participated in a number of key strategic HR initiatives to continue enhancing the value HR brings. She is a compassionate people-first leader who always seeks to understand the needs of our team members and holds a deep appreciation for the care they provide.

Dr. Ted Boyse, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer for Duke Raleigh Hospital, a Campus of Duke University Hospital. He was appointed as chief in July, 2022. Prior to this, Dr. Boyse served as Associate Chief Medical Officer for one year.

Over the past 18 years, Dr. Boyse has made important and varied contributions to Duke Health System. He has held multiple leadership roles at Duke Raleigh Hospital, including eleven years as part of the hospital’s medical executive committee, holding the roles of department chair, president elect, and president.

Dr. Boyse is known and recognized for his commitment to valuing and developing people while creating effective care environments through process improvements. He brings unique insight into how Duke Raleigh can best grow and support its medical staff, expand services, and further Duke Health’s commitment to delivering the best patient care.

Dr. Boyse earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, completed his Radiology Residency at the University of Michigan and his Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in St. Louis.

Mary Martin is the Chief Operating Officer for Duke University Hospital. In her role as COO, she and her senior leadership team oversee Duke University Hospital, a 1000+ bed (adult and pediatric), quaternary care, Level 1 trauma and academic medical center with more than 15,000 employees.

Throughout her career, Mary has been known for leading teams in project efficiencies, capacity management, and process improvement including Lean implementation. In her role as interim president, Mary leads the hospital’s senior leadership team in key priorities such as employee engagement and retention, utilization and efficiencies, reduction of workplace violence, and clinical quality and safety.

As COO, Mary has served as incident commander of Duke University Hospital’s COVID response, maintained services with zero layoffs during the pandemic and activated a new patient tower a year ahead of schedule. Mary also led teams to implement the CARE Hub, a world-class patient flow and transfer center to facilitate movement of patients between the three Duke hospitals and from outside hospitals.

Before coming to Duke in 2019, Mary held increasing leadership positions in University Hospital, a 600-bed hospital within Michigan Medicine/University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Mich. She served as Associate Hospital Director for major clinical services and operational areas that include: Surgical Services, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Psychiatry; Operations and Clinical Services. Mary previously served as director of Lean Performance Improvement and a member of the Mayor’s Cabinet for the City of Detroit, and in senior leadership roles with Detroit Medical Center.

Mary completed her undergraduate degree with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, with a related area of study in French, from James Madison College at Michigan State University. She earned a Master of Public Administration from Rackham Graduate School at The University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Jevon Peterson is the Chief Operating Officer for Duke Raleigh Hospital, a Campus of Duke University Hospital and has served the hospital for six years in various leadership roles, spanning facilities and hospital operations. Most recently, he served as Assistant Vice President, Hospital Operations. He has led large-scale projects such as the development and construction of the hospital’s new South Pavilion. Jevon brings a wealth of experience to the team and a unique insight into how Duke Raleigh can grow in Wake County. A community leader, Jevon also serves as vice chair of Raleigh Midtown Alliance.

Kristin Merritt, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN-K, is Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of Duke Regional Hospital and a registered nurse with over 28 years of experience.

Prior to assuming her role as CNO, she was Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) in Neurosciences for Duke University Health System and was responsible for neuroscience nursing practice and clinical and administrative operations across the health system. Merritt also served as the Duke Raleigh Hospital ICU and Neuroscience Stepdown Nurse Manager from 2012 to 2016 and as Neuroscience Service Line Director from 2016 to 2018. Before joining the Duke team, Merritt worked in over 29 hospitals throughout the United States as a staff nurse, travel nurse, and nursing leadership position.

Merritt holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice in Leadership from East Carolina University. She graduated from The Healthcare Management Academy GE Chief Nurse Officer Fellowship in 2021. She also graduated from the 2012 Nurse Manager Fellowship program at the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL). In addition, Merritt holds two professional board certifications in nurse executive advanced and critical care nursing.

She is a member of the following professional organizations: American Nurses Association (ANA), AONL, American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), AACN – Greater Raleigh Area Chapter, and North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA).

Merritt is active in the community. She serves as a clinical assistant professor for East Carolina University Department of Advanced Nursing Practice and Education and a member of the East Carolina University Doctorate in Nursing Practice Advisory Board. She has been a member of the AONL Membership Committee for the last three years, a member of the Wake Early College Health and Sciences Advisory Board, a reviewer for the American Nursing Credential Center (ANCC) Magnet Conference and an expert reviewer for AACN Circle of Excellence, Chapters, and Evidence-Based Practice, and for the North Carolina Great 100 Nurses Selections committee.

Ian Lee Brown, DMH serves as Chief Community Health and Social Impact Officer for Duke University Health System, where he leads enterprise-wide strategies for community health, social impact, and cross-sector partnerships that advance care that is accessible, responsive, and grounded in community needs, population health, and whole-person care.

With more than two decades of leadership experience, Ian has held senior roles across academic medical centers, health systems, senior living, affordable housing, finance, and social-impact organizations. His career is grounded in early work in community health and development in the Washington, DC region, where he led community and political affairs, volunteer services, pastoral care, and nationally recognized violence-prevention initiatives.

At Duke Health, Ian has previously served as Chief Employee Experience Officer and Interim Associate Vice President for Community Health, overseeing employee experience, employee listening, change management, organizational culture, belonging, workforce well-being, professionalism, and workplace violence prevention, as well as community health assessments, community benefit portfolios, and multi-sector coalitions.

Ian holds a Doctor of Medical and Health Humanities and a Contemplative Professional Graduate Certificate from Drew University; a Master of Science in Applied Behavioral Science and Organizational Development and a Graduate Certificate in Senior Living and Healthcare from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; a Master of Liberal Studies from Lake Forest College; and completed his undergraduate education at Brooklyn College. He has additional training in Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. In recognition of his leadership and impact, Ian was named an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Influential Leader in 2022 and a Distinguished Johns Hopkins University alumnus in 2025.

An immigrant from Jamaica, Ian brings a community-rooted, interdisciplinary approach to advancing equitable health outcomes.

Paul Vick is the Associate Vice President for Government Relations at Duke University Health System. He has headed Duke Health’s government relations office since its inception in 1999. He has more than three decades of experience in government relations and public policy work at the federal, state and local levels, including a three-year stint in Washington, DC, as chief of staff to United States Senator (and Duke University President) Terry Sanford.

During his career at Duke, Vick was director for nine years of Duke University’s Office of Government Relations and Community Affairs and has held several other university positions overseeing local, state and federal relations, alumni affairs, and special events. He has served as an elected official at the local level as well as an appointed member of numerous state and national boards. He spearheaded the creation of Project Medical Education, as a coalition of America’s leading medical schools and hospitals working together to inform Congress about medical education, and served for four years as its executive director.

A 1966 graduate of Duke University, he holds a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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A nationally recognized leader in academic medicine, Mary E. Klotman, MD, is executive vice president for health affairs at Duke University, dean of the Duke University School of Medicine, and chief academic officer for Duke Health.

Klotman was appointed as Duke’s first executive vice president for health affairs in June 2023 and assumed her new role on July 1, 2023. She was named dean of the School of Medicine in January 2017 and was appointed to a second five-year term in 2022. Prior to her appointment as dean, Klotman served with distinction as chair of the Department of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine for seven years.

Klotman earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from Duke University. She completed her internal medicine residency and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Duke before joining the faculty as assistant professor of medicine. She joined the National Institutes of Health in 1991, where she was a member of the Public Health Service and trained and worked in the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology under the direction of Robert C. Gallo, MD.

Before returning to Duke in 2010, Klotman joined Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she was the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine and served as chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases for 13 years. She was also co-director of Mount Sinai’s Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, a program designed to translate basic science discoveries into clinical therapeutics for newly emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. 

A pioneering physician-scientist, Klotman’s research interests are focused on the molecular pathogenesis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) infection. Among many important contributions to this field, Klotman and her team demonstrated that HIV resides in and evolves separately in kidney cells, a critical step in HIV-associated kidney disease. Most recently, her group has been defining the role of integrase-defective lentiviral vectors for the delivery of an HIV vaccine.

Klotman is a councilor of the Association of American Physicians and past president of the Association of Professors of Medicine. She was elected to membership in the Academy of Medicine in 2014. Klotman is a former president of the Duke Medical Alumni Association and received a Duke University School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015.

Leigh Bleecker, MBA, MHA, is the Assistant Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for Duke Raleigh Hospital, a Campus of Duke University Hospital and Duke Regional Hospital. She has been a part of the Duke Health Finance team since 2002. Leigh has also had the privilege of serving as Interim President of Duke Raleigh Hospital on two occasions.

Prior to joining Duke Health, Bleecker worked as a financial consultant with OSI Systems in Atlanta, Georgia.  She is a native of North Carolina, originally from Fayetteville.

She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MBA and MHA from Georgia State University.

In 2007, Bleecker received the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award and was named CFO of the Year in 2012.

She is active in community outreach and serves on several community boards, including current board member of Urban Ministries of Wake County, member of Holt Brothers Foundation, former treasurer and board chair of InterAct of Wake County, and former NC Commissioner of Tryon Palace. Bleecker began volunteering in 2001 as a camp counselor for Camp Sunshine, a summer camp for children with cancer and still serves in that role today.

Michael Spiritos, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer of Duke Raleigh Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University Health System. Spiritos’ specialties include internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology. He joined Duke Raleigh Hospital as chief of medical oncology in 2007, PDC Wake County representative in 2008 and chief medical officer in 2013.

Spiritos graduated from Harvard University in 1978 and completed his medical degree at Cornell University Medical College in 1983. He completed his internship in medicine at the New York Hospital and his fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Priscilla Ramseur, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, serves as Chief Nursing Officer of Duke Raleigh Hospital, a Campus of Duke University Hospital. She is responsible for providing leadership, management and fiscal control for patient care services, with the goal of achieving excellent patient care utilizing the principles of quality management systems while maintaining a culture of collaboration and interdisciplinary teamwork, and continuing to strengthen patient and team satisfaction.

Prior to her current positions, Ramseur served as the associate chief nursing officer, clinical operations director, nurse educator and staff nurse in perioperative services at Duke University Hospital for 25 years. She was also a staff nurse at Duke Regional Hospital.

Ramseur graduated with a bachelor of science degree in nursing from North Carolina Central University, as well as a doctor's of nursing practice, master's of science in nursing and post-master’s certificate in nursing administration from Duke University. She is a certified nurse executive and operating room nurse. She has received awards from NC Great 100 Nurse, Duke University School of Nursing MSN Program as Leadership Preceptor, Triangle Healthcare Heroes - Health Care Manager, Chi Eta Phi, Pi Chapter Nursing Legend Award and Duke University Friends of Nursing in perioperative nursing.

She serves on the Board of Directors for InteAct, North Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders and Leadership North Carolina Triangle Regional Council. She is affiliated with the Central Carolina Black Nurses Council, NC Nurse’s Association, AONL, AORN, Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. - Pi Chapter Sorority, Inc. and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. – Durham Graduate Chapter.

Shilpa Shelton, MHA, FACHE, is Associate Vice President for Musculoskeletal & Spine Services at Duke University Health System.

Prior to this role, Shelton was the vice president for Duke University Hospital and provided senior administrative oversight for neuroscience and orthopedic clinical services, including procedural and diagnostic services such as neurodiagnostic services, pain services, and physical therapy and occupational therapy services. In addition, she oversees hospital-based outpatient clinics for orthopaedic trauma, spine and pain services.

Prior to being appointed to vice president, Shelton served as senior strategic services associate and led strategic planning efforts for the integration of the newly formed Duke University Health System. In prior roles, she spearheaded operations improvement initiatives and breakthrough clinical quality improvement. In addition, she has successfully led several financial turn-around initiatives, as well as hospital-wide physician satisfaction initiatives.

She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts and her master’s in health care administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Shelton completed her Administrative Fellowship at Mercy Health System in Michigan.

Shelton is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and served on its National Chapter Leaders Committee. She is Past President of the Triangle Healthcare Executive Forum. Shelton also served as an adjunct faculty member for Pfeiffer University’s MHA/MBA program teaching Healthcare Finance. She is often a speaker at Fuqua School of Business’ Health Sector Management Program, as well as orthopedic conferences across the country.