April
Appointment of Chief Perioperative Executive
April 28, 2025
TO: UMMC Faculty, Staff and Students
FROM: Dr. Alan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
SUBJECT: Appointment of Chief Perioperative Executive
I’m pleased to announce that Dr. Chad Washington, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, has been appointed to the position of chief perioperative executive, effective June 1. Dr. Washington will continue in his role as department chair in addition to dedicating a significant amount of professional time to this new leadership position.
The chief perioperative executive is a new role for UMMC, resulting from combining the associate chief for perioperative services (currently open) and chief perioperative physician (soon to be vacated) positions. The chief perioperative executive will have direct oversight of the strategic, operational and financial management of all perioperative services at our Jackson area hospitals and facilities and will collaborate with hospital CEOs and the perioperative governance at our community hospitals. This role will drive operational excellence, enhance workflow efficiency and implement evidence-based practices while fostering an effective perioperative teaching environment for the state’s only academic medical center. Dr. Washington, who was selected following a call for applicants and an interview process, will report to the associate vice chancellor for health affairs.
A Pontotoc native, Dr. Washington earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Millsaps College and his master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University. He graduated from the UMMC School of Medicine in 2007, and then completed neurosurgical residency training at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also earned a Master of Population Health Sciences. He went on to complete a fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and an international neurosurgical fellowship at the National Neurosurgical Centre in Dublin, Ireland.
Dr. Washington returned to UMMC in 2015 and was appointed chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in 2019. He has led the department through a period of significant clinical and academic growth and has been instrumental in elevating the UMMC Stroke Center to a Comprehensive Stroke Center designation.
A board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Washington specializes in both open and endovascular neurosurgery. His research has earned national recognition, including a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and multiple leadership roles in clinical trials and translational research.
As chair of the Council of Clinical Chairs and medical director of UMMC’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, Dr. Washington has demonstrated his ability to bring teams together, implement data-driven strategies and guide multidisciplinary operations. His leadership is marked by clear communication, collaboration and an unwavering commitment to improving surgical care and education in Mississippi.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Chris Anderson, James D. Hardy Chair of Surgery, for his valued leadership in the role of chief perioperative physician. During his tenure in this role he successfully implemented new management policies, procedures and governance resulting in dramatic volume growth across our operative areas. Please join me in thanking Dr. Anderson for his service and welcoming Dr. Washington to this vital new role.