Chief Operating Officer (COO) Pius Aiyelawo, MPA, FACHE, has been appointed acting CEO of the NIH Clinical Center.
Aiyelawo replaces former hospital CEO Dr. James Gilman, who retired at the end of January.
Aiyelawo joined the Clinical Center in 2018 in what was a newly expanded chief operating officer position. His portfolio encompassed both operations and clinical care, and he regularly served as acting CEO when Dr. Gilman was unavailable.
As COO, Aiyelawo has been instrumental in sustaining the success of the CC, and he has played a pivotal role in transforming the CC into a high-reliability organization by improving safety and quality of care and implementing key workplace safety programs with highly successful initiatives to reduce workplace violence. He led and implemented several key initiatives collaborating with other NIH Institutes/Centers, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, The Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences and Defense Health Agency and local healthcare organizations to not only ensure but also improve continuity of safe and quality care for critical specialty services and capabilities.
He is committed to quarterbacking key aspects of the Clinical Center’s new 547,000-square-foot Surgery, Radiology and Laboratory Medicine expansion, which is slated for completion in 2029. He also shouldered chief financial officer duties when that position was vacant for an extended time.
Aiyelawo previously spent 27 years serving as a U.S. Naval officer. Before retiring in 2016 at the rank of Captain, he was assistant deputy chief of Research and Development at the Bureau of Navy Medicine in Fall Church, Va. He also served as the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa in Japan, the service’s largest overseas hospital, and as Executive Officer of the Naval Hospital in Camp Lejuene, N.C.
Aiyelawo assumes the position of Acting CC CEO as a model leader with the highest standards of loyalty, respect, and excellence in service to the nation, from his remarkable U.S. Navy career to his current position as a distinguished senior executive at the NIH CC. He is among the giants in executive healthcare leadership, having dedicated his career to supporting the art and science of medicine in the U.S and internationally, and the CC community welcomes his leadership as acting CEO during this time of transition.
In an email to Clinical Center staff announcing his appointment, Aiyelawo thanked colleagues for their continued “commitment, awesome contributions, and hard work to improve quality, safety and the environment of care for our patient partners and staff.”