Gerry Lewis has been selected to serve as Ascension Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension Information Services (AIS), which provides information technology services across Ascension, including its health ministries in 24 states and Washington, D.C., and its subsidiary organizations. Ascension is the nation’s largest nonprofit health system and the world’s largest Catholic health system.
In this role Lewis manages information technology (IT) operations, strategy, project execution and service delivery for one of the largest healthcare information services organizations in the country. He has filled this role on an interim basis since July 1.
“The contributions of Gerry and AIS will be increasingly important as we continue to transition to a healthcare environment marked by value-based care and greater focus on consumer engagement,” said Robert J. Henkel, FACHE, Executive Vice President, Ascension, and President and Chief Executive Officer, Ascension Healthcare, a division of Ascension. “Gerry’s commitment to the Ascension Mission and Values are evident in his day-to-day work. A consummate servant leader, he engenders trust and confidence in the AIS team as well as leaders and associates across our integrated national health ministry.”
In late 2015 Computerworld magazine recognized Lewis as one of its Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016. The awards program honors individuals who have had a positive impact on their organization through technology. Lewis was selected from hundreds of nominees, each of whom submitted a questionnaire that addressed a number of topics, including their background, experience, and attitude toward risk and innovation.
Lewis previously served as Vice President of IT Strategy and Business Development and Chief Data Officer for AIS. In this role he aligned IT capabilities and services to enable and support Ascension’s business strategies, providing leadership to support IT strategy development and process management. He also was responsible for establishing enterprise architecture for Ascension, enhancing its mobile solution framework, providing IT capabilities to support value-based care strategies, and leading technology collaboration.
Earlier, Lewis served as the Regional Chief Information Officer for the West Region of AIS and Vice President, Chief Information Officer for Seton Healthcare Family in Austin, Texas. Previously he served in various leadership roles at Dell and Compaq Computer Corp., and was an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency.
Lewis earned a master’s degree in business administration from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and a bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified professional in healthcare information management systems, and a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Healthcare Information Management Systems Society and the American College of Healthcare Executives.
