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Johnese Spisso, chief operating officer for Harborview Medical Center, has been appointed to the new position of clinical operations officer (COO) for ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine and vice president for medical affairs (VPMA) for the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, effective July 1.


The position was created to provide greater clinical and operational coordination among the clinical components of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine system — the medical centers, clinics, and clinically active faculty.


The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine system includes Harborview Medical Center, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medical Center, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine Neighborhood Clinics, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Physicians practice plan, and the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø School of Medicine.

In her new role, Spisso will provide executive leadership that supports the vision, mission and values of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine while fostering effective and efficient ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine clinical program operations, growth and development. She will be responsible for optimizing the operational effectiveness of the various ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine clinical units, while balancing efficiency, quality, safety, cost, and access. She will also serve as chair of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Physicians Network (ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøPN) Board, the Airlift Northwest Board and ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine Human Resources Steering Committee. In addition, she will work with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Children’s University Medical Group. Spisso will report directly to Dr. Paul Ramsey, chief executive officer for ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs for the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.

Since May of 2000, Spisso has served as Harborview’s chief operating officer. She joined the medical center in January 1994 as the assistant administrator for patient care services. In November 1996, she was promoted to the position of chief nursing officer and associate administrator for patient care services at Harborview. She also holds a clinical faculty appointment in the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø School of Nursing.

Spisso has a master’s degree in health administration/ public health from the University of San Francisco, as well as a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Chapman College in Orange, Calif. She completed her training as a registered nurse at St. Francis School of Nursing, New Castle, Pa.

In 2006, Spisso was named one of the 20 most influential women in business in Washington state by the Puget Sound Business Journal.