BRENTWOOD, Tenn., September 10, 2022 – Buffkin / Baker, a partner-led executive search firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Megan Shepherd Berlinger as Associate Partner in its Healthcare Practice. Berlinger will join the healthcare delivery vertical, leading our academic medicine searches with a focus on serving AAMC institutions and health systems.

With more than 16 years of experience in school of medicine and health system administration, Berlinger served key administration roles at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, including heart & vascular service line administrator and department administrator. She then transitioned to executive search, incorporating operational experience into the recruitment process.

“We are excited to welcome Megan to our team. She truly understands what it means to serve clients and deliver outstanding results,” said Craig Buffkin, managing partner. “Her expertise in conducting physician executive searches gives us deeper health care expertise and allows us to recruit with confidence.”

Prior to working at Wake Forest, Berlinger completed her Administrative Fellowship with Johns Hopkins Medicine. She holds both her Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Master of Healthcare Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Berlinger is certified within executive coaching and a founding partner for Elevate Institute. She also serves as adjunct professor in UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health where she teaches and advises within Health Policy and Management.

Berlinger has been involved nationally in health care leadership circles, serving as president and board member of the Association of Academic Surgical Administrators (AASA) as well as editorial advisor for the Cardiovascular Business Magazine.

“I am thrilled to join the team at Buffkin / Baker.  Across my career, I have loved partnering with health care leaders to solve complex problems,” Berlinger said. “In executive search, I enjoy focusing on recruitment, helping secure leaders who will drive impact across the country. Buffkin / Baker brings a history of excellence and focus on best practices. It is an honor to join such an experienced organization and team. I am eager to build upon that foundation, together creating value for health care clients and ultimately impacting the health of communities.”

 

 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., August 16, 2022 – Buffkin / Baker, a partner-led executive search firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. David J. Ballard, MD, PhD, MBA, as chief clinical officer in its health care practice. Ballard will support the health care delivery vertical of the firm’s health care practice, serving health systems, AAMC institutions, not-for-profit and for-profit hospital and medical groups with physician executive and health care executive searches.

As a global health care executive, Ballard brings proven expertise in improving health care value and organizational financial performance, while providing international thought leadership. He was recognized by Becker’s four consecutive years as one of the top 50 experts leading the field of patient safety, is the past president of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare and received the distinguished alumnus awards from the University of North Carolina Schools of Medicine and Public Health in 2008 and 2019. Widely recognized as a global scholar in health care quality and value, his two books on health care quality leadership received Shingo awards for their contributions to operational excellence.

“David is a welcome addition to the Buffkin / Baker team. His extensive health care experience provides us with a strong foundation to provide quality service for our clients seeking today’s leading physician, nursing, and health care executives,” said Craig Buffkin, managing partner. “Dr. Ballard brings a unique set of leadership skills, and his background as a physician leader in academic health science centers such as the University of Virginia and Emory University, as well as in large health care systems such as Mayo Clinic and Baylor Scott & White Health, will add substantial depth to our team, strengthen our capabilities and allow us to serve our clients at an even higher level.”

Ballard previously served as chief quality officer of Baylor Scott & White Health, where the organization received both the Leapfrog Patient-Centered Care Award and the National Quality Forum Health Care Award under his leadership.  Additionally, he has held leadership roles at Emory University, University of Virginia and Mayo Clinic, and completed five degrees with honors in economics, public health, epidemiology, medicine, and business at the University of North Carolina, where he was a John Motley Morehead Scholar.  He is a board-certified internist, having completed his residency training in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic. 

Ballard continues to serve as health care policy section editor for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings and associate editor for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes. He also serves on the boards of several global health care companies, including as a director and audit committee member for Mentice (MNTV.ST), the world’s leading endovascular simulation performance solutions company. Ballard has several leadership roles at the University of North Carolina, where he is adjunct professor of health policy and management, a member of the UNC Chancellor’s Global Leadership Council and a member of the UNC Center on the Business of Health Leadership Advisory Board. 

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Craig Buffkin and his colleagues,” said Ballard. “Craig and I share an extensive interconnected history through the Morehead/Morehead-Cain Foundation and the UNC baseball program, as well as both of us being MBA graduates of the Kenan-Flagler Business School. My career has been devoted to efforts of making health care safer and more affordable, while reducing health disparities. As chief clinical officer for Buffkin / Baker, I look forward to assisting health care systems, academic health science centers and other organizations across the United States in their pursuit of these and other strategic objectives, ensuring that they have the executive talent to do so. Given our national imperative to make health care safer and more affordable, while reducing health disparities, Buffkin / Baker is a critical partner in the recruitment and successful engagement of health care executive talent. “