Will serve as Health System’s executive vice president of healthcare integration and business development and president and CEO of Uniontown Hospital
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the West Virginia University (WVU) Health System, announced today (June 7) the appointment of Carrie E. Willetts as both executive vice president of healthcare integration and business development for the WVU Health System and president and CEO of WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital. She will start her new roles this fall.
“I’m excited to welcome Carrie to the WVU Medicine family,” Wright said. “She’s a highly accomplished healthcare executive with a long and distinguished career, and I’m thrilled that she’ll be bringing her high energy and many talents to the Health System through her leadership of new partnerships, statewide interoperability, and payer provider integration efforts as well as our hospital in Uniontown.”
Willetts most recently served as the senior vice president and east region market president with WellSpan Health, an integrated health delivery system based in York, Pa. She joined that health system in 2016 as a hospital president and led improvements in quality outcomes that received statewide and national recognition. As market president, Willetts had oversite of strategic growth and operational integration of three hospitals and a comprehensive ambulatory network. In addition, she established a business development function for the health system.
“We were very impressed with Carrie’s leadership style and her many accomplishments, especially those that were related to hospitals such as ours,” Nancy Decker, chair of the Uniontown Hospital Board of Directors, said. “The Board members and I look forward to working closely with her to continue strengthening Uniontown Hospital and positioning it for long-term success.”
Earlier in her career, Willetts served in leadership roles at Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Va., and the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va., where she led several strategic service line growth and market expansion initiatives in addition to operational integration efforts.
“I am thrilled that we were able to recruit such a strong and talented leader who will provide outstanding leadership to one of our community hospitals while helping steer the whole Health System by identifying and assessing new partnerships to further its mission and expand its clinical footprint,” Gordon Gee, chair of the WVU Health System Board of Directors and president of West Virginia University, said. “Her leadership and strategic thinking will be critical as the Health System continues to evolve and expand to meet the growing needs of our patients.”
Originally from Petersburg, W.Va., Willetts earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from James Madison University and Master of Science in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has served on a variety of community boards and has been active in Pennsylvania’s hospital association.
“I have been impressed by WVU Medicine’s strategic direction for quite some time and am excited to be a part of such an innovative and agile organization. I’m grateful to Albert, Nancy, and Gordon, as well as the Uniontown Hospital Board members, for giving me the opportunity to serve my home state and its surrounding areas,” Willetts said. “The vision and positive culture are very evident throughout the organization; I look forward to being a part of WVU Medicine as we work to make healthcare more accessible and affordable to the communities we serve.”