Leadership Rounds with Dr. Mindy Estes and Dr. David W. Zaas

AHA Board Chair Melinda Estes, M.D., hosts a series of Leadership Rounds — short conversations on a range of key issues Dr. Estes will have with hospital and health system leaders from across the country.

The fifth in the series featured Dr. Estes joined by Dr. David W. Zaas, CEO of MUSC Health - Charleston Division and Chief Clinical Officer for MUSC Health, to discuss COVID-19’s impact on health trends and services in South Carolina. This episode was recorded on September 24, 2020.

Joining Dr. Estes on Her Rounds

Dr. David W. Zaas

CEO, MUSC Health - Charleston Division, and Chief Clinical Officer, MUSC Health

David Zaas, M.D., is the chief executive officer for MUSC Health - Charleston Division and chief clinical officer for MUSC Health. In these roles, he oversees all clinical matters related to the Charleston Division, including MUSC Health’s 872-bed flagship medical center and the newly opened MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion in downtown Charleston, as well as the expanding clinical enterprise, which includes multiple ambulatory sites, clinical affiliates, and joint ventures across the tri-county area (Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties).

Prior to accepting his current role as CEO for MUSC Health – Charleston, Zaas served in several leadership positions at Duke University Health System, most recently as the president of Duke Raleigh Hospital from 2014 to 2020. His additional leadership roles at Duke included chief medical officer for the Duke faculty practice, vice chair for clinical practice in the Department of Medicine, as well as medical director of the lung and heart-lung transplantation program. He played a central role in advancing multiple key strategic initiatives for Duke Health for almost two decades.

Zaas holds a B.A. in biology from Yale University, an M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School, and an MBA from Duke University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at Duke University. Zaas’ academic interests have involved both translational and clinical research focused on improving outcomes from lung transplantation including the role of infectious complications after transplant.