Donna Sollenberger named CEO of UW Hospital and Clinics

Donna K. Sollenberger, executive vice president and chief operating officer of City of Hope since 1997, has been named president and chief executive officer of UW Hospital and Clinics.

The first woman ever to head the hospital, she succeeds Gordon Derzon, who is retiring at the end of this year. The appointment takes effect Dec. 1, 1999.

“We are most impressed with the breadth and depth of Ms. Sollenberger’s experience and qualifications,” said Jack Pelisek, chair of the UW Hospital and Clinics Authority Board. “Her leadership at both City of Hope and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which yielded significant improvements in cost and operational efficiency, will be invaluable to the hospital.”

As chief operating officer at City of Hope, Sollenberger directed three corporations — a 212-bed hospital with extensive outpatient services, the Beckman Research Institute and a fund-raising operation that brought in over $65 million annually. She was responsible for all patient care operations, the patient business office, facilities, information systems, patient access systems, human resources and research.

She also held seats on numerous boards overseeing planning, staffing, budgeting, evaluating and operating all aspects of City of Hope.

“To be selected to lead the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics is a great honor,” Sollenberger said. “During my interviews, I was impressed with the commitment of the faculty, staff and administrators to the patients they serve. As an academic health care center, the UW Hospital and Clinics will be challenged with continuing to find ways to carry out its mission while facing declining revenues for its services. I look forward to working with Dr. Farrell, the physicians and staff in finding solutions to these challenges while also charting a course which will assure a strong future for the UW Hospital and Clinics and its continued pre-eminence as a regional and national health care resource.”

Sollenberger added: “Until nine years ago, my family and I lived in Illinois, so we truly look forward to moving to Wisconsin and becoming a part of the Madison community.”

As vice president for the hospital and clinics at M. D. Anderson, Sollenberger was responsible for the operation of a 508-bed hospital and ancillary services. She also served as chief administrative officer for the M.D. Anderson division of surgery and anesthesiology.

More than 2,700 people are employed by the City of Hope organization, which serves patients with cancer, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses. The medical center is located in Duarte, California. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center employs 7,500 people.

Sollenberger also served as chief administrative officer in the surgery department at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She was a professor at Lincoln Land Community College; director of public information, strategic planning and special programs at the Illinois Department of Conservation; and public information officer at the Illinois Department of Transportation.

She is a member of the Academic Practice Assembly, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Medical Group Administrators. She has been invited to speak several times at the European Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare.

Sollenberger earned master of arts and bachelor of arts degrees in English from the University of Illinois at Springfield and took the Rice University executive development and leadership course.

Her family includes husband Kent, a writer; daughter Shannon, who is in graduate school in Texas; and twin sons, Blake and Bradley, who are in eighth grade.

She is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in American Women and the 1980 Outstanding Young Women in America.