Dr. Geralda Xavier has joined Atlantic Health System as chief medical officer for Hackettstown and Newton medical centers, the system announced.
Xavier is a highly skilled physician executive with more than 15 years of experience in clinical care and medical staff leadership. She is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and maintains national certifications in clinical practice. She has a strong reputation for being a change management champion using robust process improvement, fostering team engagement and promoting psychological safety, across disciplines and departments.
At Hackettstown and Newton medical centers, Xavier will play a pivotal role in supporting and advancing physician engagement, integration and alignment with both hospitals and within Atlantic Health System. She also will work to strengthen relationships between the organization and the medical staffs, which encompasses both employed and private community physicians. Working closely with hospital leadership, clinical leaders and leaders across Atlantic Health, Xavier will be responsible for overseeing the quality and patient safety initiatives within both medical centers.
“I am pleased to join Atlantic Health System and contribute to their commitment to excellence in patient safety and quality,” she said. “I look forward to collaborating with my peers to further our mission of providing high-quality care to the communities we serve.”
Xavier comes to Atlantic Health System from NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, where she most recently served as chief quality officer and associate chief medical officer.
Bob Adams, president, Hackettstown and Newton medical centers, welcomed her.
“We are excited to have Dr. Xavier join our leadership team,” he said. “As an accomplished physician, Dr. Xavier’s experience will be invaluable as we continue to enhance our patient quality initiatives. I know she will have a positive impact across our organization.”
Prior to her role at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, Xavier served as interim chief, medical director and core faculty of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Kings County. She was instrumental in the redesign of hospital flow to improve clinical operations, reduce potential harm events, increase staff productivity/satisfaction, integration of performance improvement using key performance indicators and implementation of split-flow.
Xavier earned her Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Brooklyn College. She then earned her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health at Robert Wood John Medical School, and a Master of Business Administration from Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. Xavier is also a safety, quality, informatics and leadership fellow from Harvard School of Medicine, Institute for Healthcare Improvement improvement adviser, fellow of America’s Essential Hospitals and Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Xavier is the successor to Dr. Paul Owens, who served in the position for more than nine years before retiring last July.
