Editors’ Note

David Reich was appointed Chief Clinical Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System in 2024. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring the safety, efficiency, and overall integrity of Mount Sinai’s clinical care. Reich leads the Health System’s clinical and patient care efforts, including quality, patient safety, regulatory readiness, risk mitigation, medical affairs, physician leadership development, and malpractice. Reich has been President of The Mount Sinai Hospital since 2013, and is the Horace W. Goldsmith Professor of Anesthesiology, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and Professor of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-based Medicine. He was Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology from 2004-2014 and served as President of the Medical Board in 2011-2012. Reich’s research interests include neurocognitive outcome following cardiac surgery, medical informatics, and hemodynamic monitoring. An academic cardiac anesthesiologist, he has published more than 200 articles, editorials and book chapters. As a hospital executive, he has enhanced safety and quality by forming an institute for critical care medicine, rapidly deploying digital innovation tools including AI-enhanced clinical decision support, and leading in COVID-19 care and diagnostics.

Institution Brief

Mount Sinai Health System (mountsinai.org) encompasses the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and seven hospitals, as well as a large and expanding ambulatory care network. The seven hospitals – The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, Mount Sinai Queens, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai South Nassau, Mount Sinai West, and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai – have a vast geographic footprint throughout the New York metropolitan region. The Mount Sinai Hospital has been listed in the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll for the last ten years. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is also ranked nationally in ophthalmology.

How do you define Mount Sinai Health System’s mission and purpose?

The mission of Mount Sinai Health System is to provide compassionate patient care with seamless coordination and to advance medicine through unrivaled education, research, and outreach in the many diverse communities we serve. Mount Sinai Health System’s vision is to continue to grow and challenge convention through our pioneering spirit, scientific advancements, forward-thinking leadership, and collaborative approach to providing exceptional patient care in the many unique communities we serve. Our core values include:

• Safety: We protect our patients and our colleagues from harm.

• Equity: We create a diverse and inclusive environment for our patients, students, and colleagues, free from bias, racism, and favoritism, to foster optimal care and just opportunities based on one’s individual needs and abilities.

• Agility: We are flexible and quick to adapt to changes.

• Creativity: We identify and develop forward-thinking approaches to challenge conventions, solve problems, and push the boundaries of medicine.

• Empathy: We demonstrate a deep understanding of our colleagues, our patients, and their loved ones through inclusion, compassion, respect, and caring.

• Teamwork: We are better together by including the diverse perspectives of each team member to achieve outcomes far superior to those any individual could achieve alone.

Will you provide an overview of your role and areas of focus?

I continue as President of The Mount Sinai Hospital. Additionally, as Chief Clinical Officer, I oversee clinical quality, safety, and regulatory functions; patient experience; care standardization; non-physician clinical services; nursing; pharmacy; laboratory; and international clinical consultation services.

Will you discuss your focus on ensuring the safety, efficiency, and overall integrity of Mount Sinai’s clinical care?

The focus of the Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) is to coordinate the portfolio of services listed above to enhance the experience, safety, and quality of patients receiving care in ambulatory and inpatient care settings. One example of this focus is developing AI/machine learning-based predictive models to optimize care for patients at risk of clinical deterioration, falls, pressure injuries, malnutrition, and delirium, etc. The unifying theme is leveraging technology to bring the right team to the right patient at the right time.

What have been the keys to The Mount Sinai Hospital’s industry leadership?

The unified campus of The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine on the flagship campus of the Health System creates a seamless linkage between scientists and clinicians. Mount Sinai is ideally situated to use translational strategies that bring discoveries, including ground-breaking clinical research and artificial intelligence/machine learning tools, into clinical practice. The intellectual power of the hospital-school co-location is ideal for rapid deployment of innovation throughout the seven hospital campuses and the hundreds of ambulatory practices in the Health System.

Will you discuss Mount Sinai Health System’s commitment to leadership development and building the next generation of Mount Sinai leaders?

The leaders of the components of the CCO portfolio mentioned above are chosen based upon their capacity to become future senior leaders within the Health System. This fits an organizational philosophy of leveraging the talents of the experienced leaders that are direct reports to the CEO in preparing their direct reports for advancement into senior leadership positions once they gain leadership experience.

What do you see as Mount Sinai’s responsibility to be engaged in its communities?

Mount Sinai was founded in 1852 to care for poor patients who could not receive care at other hospitals due to religious discrimination that was prevalent at the time. The Upper East Side campus of The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine sits on the “fault line” between one of the richest and one of the poorest zip codes in the United States. It is part of the Mount Sinai “DNA” to care for rich and poor alike. Our commitment to our community is part of our identity.

What do you tell young people about the type of career the profession offers?

I wake up every morning excited for the work ahead. Improving health and treating the most complex medical conditions with cutting-edge science brings great satisfaction to our physicians, advanced-practice providers, nurses, professional staff and support staff. I see that enthusiasm throughout the vast Mount Sinai Health System and encourage young people to consider a career that is rewarding on many levels.