Metro Health Appoints New COO

March 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Metro Health Hospital has appointed Jamal A. Ghani, a seasoned healthcare administrator, as its new chief operating officer.

Ghani brings 16 years of healthcare leadership experience to his new role at Metro Health.  He will be responsible for the hospital’s day-to-day operations, overseeing an annual operating budget of $277 million, more than 2,000 employees and 12 neighborhood outpatient centers that collectively serve more than 130,000 patients each year.  He replaces Brian Jepson, who left Metro Health in 2010 for a post in New York.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Jamal to the Metro Health team,” said Mike Faas, president and CEO of Metro Health.  “He brings excellent operational experience to this position, which has become increasingly important as we continue to grow and expand the services we offer.  

“Additionally, Jamal has an extensive background in healthcare technology, which we feel will continue to be critical to Metro’s mission of delivering the best experience – for physicians and patients alike.  As the first hospital in West Michigan to introduce fully integrated medical records, we remain committed to being a leader in information technology.”

Prior to joining Metro Health, Ghani served as senior vice president of operations for Hurley Medical Center, a non-profit teaching hospital located in Flint.  He also served as president and CEO of Hurley Health Services, which includes its for-profit ventures.  During his tenure in Flint, Ghani played a leadership role in the financial turnaround of Hurley Medical Center, led construction of a new emergency department; implementation of a new information technology system, which is also utilized by Metro Health; establishment of Six Sigma process improvement system; re-establishment of several key service lines; and improvement of patient satisfaction scores, among other key initiatives.

Ghani also served as chief administrative office of Forest Hills Hospital and senior director of supply chain management for North Shore University Hospital, both part of the North Shore LIJ Health System on Long Island, New York.  Ghani has additional administrative experience with health systems in San Francisco and Minneapolis.

Ghani also brings entrepreneurial and technology expertise to Metro Health.  He served as the president and CEO of California-based Xplica, Inc., a venture capital-funded, web-based technology that provided customer relationship management, or CRM, enterprise employee relationship management, or EERM, and e-learning services to health systems and pharmaceutical and technology companies.  

He also founded and served as CEO of Onlinecare.com, an Internet-based preventive health education technology company, also based in California.  The firm merged with Xplica in 2000.

Ghani holds a bachelor of business administration cum laude and a master of business administration from National University in San Diego and a master of health care administration from the University of Minneapolis.  

Active professionally, he is a member of the Michigan Healthcare Technology Consortium, the Michigan Healthcare Business Development Group, American College of Health Executives and on board of several organizations.  Ghani, his wife, Azra, a practicing physician, and their four children are in the process of relocating to the Grand Rapids area.  


About Metro Health
Metro Health is a regional health-care organization with a 208-bed general acute care osteopathic teaching hospital and 12 neighborhood outpatient centers, serving more than 130,000 patients in Kent and surrounding counties.  Metro, which earned status as a Top 100 Hospital for three consecutive years, offers a broad range of services, including hospital inpatient and outpatient services, emergency, surgery, intensive care and rehabilitation.  Physician, therapy and diagnostic services are offered in its 12 neighborhood centers. Metro’s work is supported by the Metro Health Hospital Foundation, which is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the health and well being of the West Michigan community through philanthropy.  For more information, visit www.metrohealth.net.