Sentara Healthcare CEO and Leadership

Howard P. Kern is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sentara Healthcare, a not-for-profit integrated health system headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Kern has nearly 40 years of executive management experience spanning hospital, managed health insurance, ambulatory services, and healthcare finance leadership.

Mr. Kern became President & CEO of Sentara Healthcare in March, 2016. He began his career with Sentara in 1980 as an Administrative Resident at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where he served in numerous positions prior to being named Senior Vice President for the health system in 1995. Mr. Kern was appointed as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 1998 and was promoted to President & Chief Operating Officer in January, 2003.

Grace Hines is a Senior Corporate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at SENTARA HEALTHCARE.

Jordan Asher, M.D. is Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Sentara Healthcare. His role concentrates on creating innovative models of care delivery as well as providing national thought leadership directed towards the future of health care.

Dr. Asher is dedicated to championing quality, fostering clinical effectiveness and further cultivating a culture of excellence in the delivery of clinical services across the continuum of care. He oversees system-wide Clinical Quality and Safety, Clinical Effectiveness, the Sentara Quality Care Network (SQCN), the High Performance Design process, Health Equity, Telehealth and Clinical Performance Improvement initiatives.

Previous Experience

Before joining Sentara Healthcare, Jordan served as Chief Clinical Officer for Ascension Care Management (ACM), a subsidiary of Ascension. Prior to ACM, Jordan was Physician Network Executive for Saint Thomas Health in Nashville, where he led the implementation and design of physician alignment strategies. In addition, Dr. Asher served as the Assistant Dean and Interim Clinical Chair of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. In this role, he forged a partnership between Saint Thomas Health and the university to establish graduate medical residency programs in several areas including internal medicine, general surgery and emergency medicine. He also served as Medical Director for a large private practice, incorporating multiple specialties while practicing internal medicine specializing in hypertension.

Mike Gentry is Executive Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer for Sentara Healthcare. Appointed to the position in 2016, Gentry is responsible for the overall operations of Sentara provider divisions, including 12 hospitals, Sentara Life Care Corporation and Sentara Enterprises. He has been with Sentara Healthcare since 2008.

Becky Sawyer is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Sentara Healthcare. She is responsible for HR Strategy and Execution for 28,000 employees including over 1,600 leaders across 12 hospitals, a health plan, four medical groups, nursing and rehabilitation centers and a fully integrated healthcare system with multi-state operations in Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio.

Ms. Sawyer supports a strategic HR program to maintain a positive, diverse, multigenerational workplace where members of the team develop their full potential and contribute to the Sentara mission to improve health every day. Her vision for an engaged team of system contributors working towards a common mission was recognized in 2018 by two system awards.

Sentara Healthcare was named to the Forbes 2018 America's Best Employers list (5,000+ employees), ranking No. 177 out of 500 companies in the Best Large Employers category. In addition, Sentara was nationally recognized for quality and safety as a Top 15 Health System in 2018 by IBM Watson Health in the large system category.

Genemarie McGee is a Corporate Vice President and the Chief Nursing Officer of Sentara Healthcare. She is responsible for the oversight and coordination of nursing care across the Sentara system. Nursing at Sentara is focused on the delivery of safe, high quality, patient-centered nursing care.

Megan R. Perry is the Senior Corporate Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer and is responsible for new market growth and partnerships.

In 1990, Megan completed an administrative residency with Sentara Healthcare and worked for the next decade leading programs at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Her roles ranged from Director for Women’s Services to Vice President working with Emergency Services, Nightingale and EVMS Ambulatory Clinics. In 1994, Megan assumed responsibility for cardiovascular services for the Southside hospitals and led the cardiac program at SNGH to its first of several appearances in U.S. News and World Report. In 2000, Megan was named Senior Vice President, and she assumed responsibility for the operation of Sentara Hampton General Hospital, the building and administration of Sentara CarePlex Hospital and the development and opening of the Port Warwick outpatient campus in Newport News. From 2007 - 2010, Megan was the Senior Vice President for Business Development, and in this role she developed new clinical programs, enhanced business growth, developed physician collaborations and led the affiliation efforts with several new hospitals that joined Sentara. She then served as the first Corporate Vice President for Northern Virginia and President for Potomac Hospital after the affiliation in 2010. Most recently, she assumed the role as Corporate Vice President for Mergers and Affiliations and oversees Sentara's commercial real estate and construction.

Robert A. Broermann is Executive Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of Sentara Healthcare. Appointed to the position in 2001, Mr. Broermann is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s financial management. His staff includes the financial personnel of all 12 Sentara operating divisions in addition to all centralized finance employees including the Revenue Cycle and Treasury functions. In 2006, Mr. Broermann was awarded "CFO of the Year" by Virginia Business.

Howard P. Kern is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sentara Healthcare, a not-for-profit integrated health system headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Kern has nearly 40 years of executive management experience spanning hospital, managed health insurance, ambulatory services, and healthcare finance leadership.

Mr. Kern became President & CEO of Sentara Healthcare in March, 2016. He began his career with Sentara in 1980 as an Administrative Resident at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where he served in numerous positions prior to being named Senior Vice President for the health system in 1995. Mr. Kern was appointed as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 1998 and was promoted to President & Chief Operating Officer in January, 2003.