Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick recently named Dr. Christopher Gilligan senior vice president, chief medical officer and chief quality officer.
A proven physician scientist and expert in driving clinical excellence across integrated health care systems, Gilligan brings more than 15 years of distinguished leadership in academic medicine. As an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, principal investigator of multicenter clinical trials and editor-in-chief of a medical journal, he combines his medical expertise with a successful track record in venture capital and launching early-stage biotech and medical device companies.
As the new CMO and CQO at RWJUH, Gilligan will work with the Medical Staff Executive Committee to provide leadership to the more than 2,000 physicians and advanced practice providers. The RWJUH medical staff is composed of faculty from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, community practitioners and APPs. As CQO, Gilligan will guide clinical performance standards, emphasizing quality and safety metrics to enhance patient care outcomes. His responsibilities include integrating and coordinating clinical practices, aligning physician activities with the RWJUH strategic plan, formulating quality and safety strategies, overseeing infection control and leading performance improvement initiatives.
“We’re excited to welcome Dr. Gilligan to the flagship academic medical center of the RWJBarnabas Health system,” Alan Lee, president, RWJUH, said. “Dr. Gilligan has a proven track record of enhancing quality standards to drive exceptional patient outcomes in a quaternary care setting. We are confident that the knowledge, leadership and experience he brings will further strengthen our service to our communities, as well as our research and education missions.”
RWJBarnabas Health Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Quality Officer Dr. Andy Anderson added: “Dr. Gilligan’s proven success is rooted in fostering a culture that is committed to quality, patient safety and delivering outstanding clinical outcomes. We believe his leadership will help us expand our national reputation for excellence in academic medicine.”
Gilligan joins RWJUH from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he was named associate chief medical officer in 2021 and was responsible for leading the response to COVID-19 in perioperative and periprocedural areas. He founded and directed the unified multidisciplinary Spine Service Line, achieving significant growth and leading in spine market share among New England hospitals.
Gilligan has also served in leadership roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, as chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and co-director of the Spine Center. Under his direction, Gilligan expanded the Pain Medicine Division and Spine Center, achieving recognition for excellence in pain medicine. He implemented new scheduling and clinical workflows, resulting in dramatic improvements in patient experience and procedure volume.
Gilligan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, a master’s in philosophy from Cambridge University and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.
