Chief Digital Information Officer

UConn Health Community Network has exclusively retained Kirby Partners to support its search for a Chief Digital Information Officer.

The UConn Health Community Network  is a not-for-profit organization that connects community hospitals with the expertise, research, education and innovation of Connecticut’s public academic medical center. The Network supports member hospitals in strengthening local care, expanding access and building long-term stability while preserving their community identity and mission. Through collaboration, shared resources and sustained investment, the Network is creating a more connected and sustainable health care system for communities across Connecticut.

Strengthening local care

The Network helps community hospitals deliver high-quality, accessible care while preserving their local identity and community connections.

Combining community and academic expertise

Member hospitals benefit from UConn Health’s academic, clinical, research and educational resources, while UConn Health benefits from the experience and local knowledge of its community partners.

Creating greater stability

The Network provides a structure for shared planning, investment and operational support to help community hospitals address financial, workforce and clinical pressures.

Supporting patients, clinicians and employees

Collaboration across the Network creates opportunities to expand services, strengthen clinical partnerships, support workforce development and improve the patient experience.

Building for the future

The Network is building a strong foundation for growth, bringing Waterbury Hospital, Bristol Health and Day Kimball Hospital together to improve access, quality and long-term sustainability across Connecticut.

Position Overview

The Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO) serves as the senior executive responsible for enterprise-wide information technology, infrastructure & cloud, digital strategy, data governance, and cybersecurity across a multi-hospital academic and community health system. The CDIO sets the enterprise vision and executes a multi-year strategy based on the health system’s vision and roadmap that ensures technology is scalable, secure, reliable, interoperable, and aligned with clinical excellence, operational efficiencies and performance, patient experience, and academic and research missions.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the CDIO is a key member of the executive leadership team and a trusted advisor to the CEO, board, and senior leaders. The CDIO partners closely with clinical, operational, finance, human resources, and compliance leadership to deliver a resilient technical foundation and unified enterprise architecture, optimize core clinical platforms (including the EHR), advance a unified enterprise data ecosystem, and enable responsible adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to improve clinical and administrative workflow efficiencies to reduce cost of care and improve outcomes, access, and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Technology Strategy & Governance

• Define and execute an enterprise-wide IT strategy and roadmap aligned with system strategic priorities, growth plans, and regulatory requirements.
• Establish and lead enterprise IT governance for capital planning, investment prioritization, enterprise architectural standards, and value realization of technology investments.
• Develop enterprise policies, service delivery excellence, and an enterprise architecture that promote interoperability, scalability, usability, security, and consistent performance across all sites of care.
• Engage functional leaders in formal feedback on the quality of Enterprise-wide technology initiatives, IT service management services, and the effectiveness of the technology organization’s collaboration at all levels and across all functions.
• Provide regular executive- and board-level reporting on technology performance, risk posture, major initiatives, and investment outcomes.

Digital Technology Operations & Service Excellence

• Lead enterprise technology operations supporting 24/7 clinical environments, ensuring high availability, resilience, and high-quality performance.
• Drive service excellence across end-user computing, service desk/helpdesk, technical support, and field services to improve clinician, staff, and patient experience.
• Modernize infrastructure services, including network, server, data center, and cloud platforms, to improve reliability, scalability, cybersecurity, and cost efficiency.
• Ensure operational readiness and business continuity throughout major platform transitions, including command center operations, hypercare support models, transition from deployments to ongoing support, and stabilization plans.

Clinical Systems, EHR & Workflow Optimization

• Maintain executive accountability for enterprise clinical systems, including the EHR, ensuring stability, usability, performance, and clinician satisfaction.
• Partner with physician, nursing, and clinical leadership to optimize workflows, reduce documentation burden, and improve patient safety, throughput, and care coordination.
• Partner with RCM to ensure the reliability and optimization of EHR and practice management system integrations, workflows, and operational analytics to enable a high-performing RCM function.
• Lead the strategy, planning, and execution of the EHR transition (new instance and/or vendor), including vendor selection support as applicable, implementation governance, clinical and patient workflow optimizations based on input from clinicians, clinical adoption, training strategy, cutover planning, and post-go-live stabilization.
• Ensure regulatory, quality, patient safety, clinical quality reporting, and revenue continuity requirements are met throughout the transition.
• Oversee PACS, imaging, and other mission-critical clinical systems to ensure integrated, timely, and reliable access to clinical information.

Unified Data Ecosystem, Analytics & Interoperability

• Establish and govern a unified enterprise data ecosystem, including data architecture, governance, master data management, and data quality standards.
• Enable analytics and decision support capabilities for quality, safety, operations, access, financial performance, population health, and value-based care.
• Drive interoperability across hospitals, ambulatory sites, academic partners, payers, and external entities.
• Oversee data conversion, data validation, reconciliation, and reporting continuity across major platform changes (EHR and Oracle).

Cybersecurity, Privacy & Digital Resilience

• Lead enterprise cybersecurity strategy and execution to protect patient, employee, and research information assets.
• Partner with the Data Privacy Officer to establish a regulatory compliance program for HIPAA compliance, incident reporting, policies and procedures, employee training, and annual compliance audits.
• Ensure robust identity and access management (IAM), privileged access controls, threat detection and response, vulnerability management, and security awareness programs.
• Own disaster recovery, business continuity, and incident response capabilities for mission-critical clinical and administrative systems.
• Ensure cybersecurity and privacy-by-design across all transformation initiatives, including vendor risk management, segmentation, privileged access management, service account management, and cutover controls.

Emerging Technology, AI Enablement & Responsible Innovation

• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies, including AI,  automation, and predictive analytics, through governance frameworks that prioritize patient safety, clinical effectiveness, privacy, equity, and operational value.
• Enable responsible AI use cases that improve clinical decision support, operational efficiency, access, and patient and consumer experience.
• Partner with clinical, operational, and academic leaders to pilot, scale, and monitor innovation initiatives with measurable outcomes.

Financial Stewardship, Vendor Strategy & Value Realization

• Own the enterprise IT operating and capital budgets, ensuring disciplined investment prioritization and transparent value tracking.
• Lead vendor strategy, contract negotiations, and performance management across major technology partners and suppliers.
• Standardize procurement and vendor management practices to reduce risk, optimize cost, and improve service quality.
• Deliver measurable return on investment through platform optimization, productivity improvements, operational efficiencies, revenue integrity support, and risk reduction.

Workforce Leadership, Talent Development & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing enterprise technology organization across enterprise architecture, program management, enterprise applications, clinical platforms, employee collaboration, infrastructure/cloud, cybersecurity, data and analytics, and end-user services.
• Develop IT service delivery and project management frameworks (such as ITIL, Agile, Scrum, and Kanban) and oversee enterprise data governance initiatives like master data management.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Implement workforce planning and succession strategies to ensure long-term organizational capability.
• Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and continuous learning within the technology organization.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Health Informatics, Business, or a related field required.

Experience

• Minimum of 15 years of progressive IT leadership experience, including significant executive-level responsibility in a large health system, academic medical center, or complex multi-site healthcare environment.
• Experience building (or rebuilding) high-performing IT organizations and developing an IT organization that fosters innovation, collaboration, and service delivery excellence.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale clinical systems, infrastructure operations, cybersecurity programs, and data and analytics initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead large-scale transformation, including modernization, standardization, interoperability, and adoption of emerging technologies.
• Experience operating in highly regulated healthcare environments with deep familiarity with HIPAA, privacy, security, and clinical continuity requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree (e.g., MBA, MHA, MPH, MS in Information Systems/Health Informatics) or an equivalent combination of education and substantial executive-level leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment.
• Healthcare IT leadership certification (e.g., CHIME CHCIO, HIMSS CPHIMS) or equivalent.
• Cybersecurity credential (e.g., CISSP, CISM) or equivalent experience leading enterprise security programs.
• Formal training in service management and continuous improvement (e.g., ITIL, Lean/Six Sigma) is a plus.

Skills & Competencies

• Enterprise strategist with strong business, clinical workflow, and operational acumen; able to translate strategy into scalable platforms and measurable outcomes.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, including the ability to engage effectively with boards, physicians, and senior academic and operational leaders.
• Expertise in cybersecurity risk management, privacy, resilience, and continuity planning for mission-critical clinical systems.
• Strong financial discipline: capital planning, budgeting, portfolio governance, vendor negotiation, and value realization.
• Proven change leader who builds trust, drives adoption, and strengthens a culture of service excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Position Location

Desirable valley region 

The Farmington Valley is located along the Farmington River and is made up of several communities near Hartford. The towns of Farmington, Simsbury, Avon, Granby, and Canton consistently rank among the most desirable places to live in Central Connecticut with top-rated schools, quiet, well-maintained neighborhoods, and tight-knit communities. The area offers a blend of  New England heritage with locally owned shops and restaurants, and a nearby West Farms Mall that provides one of the largest retail and dining destinations in the state. UConn Health is based in Farmington, an economic leader in the region with over 2,000 businesses.

Natural beauty and outdoor lifestyle

Surrounded by wooded hills and protected open spaces, the Farmington Valley is the ideal place to be connected to nature. Nearby Talcott Mountain State Park offers panoramic views of the region atop Heublein Tower. Part of an 80-plus-mile regional trail network, the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is one of Connecticut’s most popular cycling and running routes. The Farmington River Trail stretches 18 miles and is among the most picturesque and historic greenways in New England. The entire trail system connects to at least five areas and provides opportunities for boating, kayaking, fishing, tubing, and swimming.

Convenient access to big city amenities

One advantage of living in the valley region is that the vibrant restaurant and entertainment scene in Hartford is within a 20-minute drive. Hartford ranks in the top six percent among North American cities for the arts for its world-class regional stages like the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and Hartford Stage, cultural centers, and live music venues. The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest continuously operating public art museum in the U.S.

Procedure for Candidacy

Final candidates should expect two interviews with Kirby Partners recruiters (including a video conference interview). You may be asked to complete our “Executive Profile” and submit references to be considered for presentation to the search committee.