Interim leaders named to Chief of Staff and Chief Information Officer roles
As a leader, it is always bittersweet to announce the departure of valued colleagues while also announcing that others you admire are stepping into interim roles as a result. In that spirit, I wanted to share the following with our entire UTMB community.
Office of the President
After 13 years of service to UTMB, Sheila Lidstone is stepping down as vice president and chief of staff in the Office of the President as she retires from the university. Prior to her role in this office, she contributed greatly to the success of our Office of the Executive Vice President for Business and Finance. She is well-known throughout UTMB and our community for her compassion and philosophy of servant leadership. A communicator by talent and training, she has served as a mentor and guide for others throughout her career, advocating for equity, diversity and professionalism in all endeavors. As chief of staff, she oversaw numerous initiatives that position UTMB and its mission for success into the future. We will miss Sheila’s good humor and way with words.
I am pleased to say that Elizabeth (Beth) Stum has been appointed interim chief of staff, effective immediately. Beth has worked for UTMB since the early 1990s, starting as a financial analyst in the newly created Primary Care Outpatient Clinics and honing her administrative skills as those clinics expanded. In addition, she has worked for the Faculty Group Practice and as administrator for the Office of Community Outreach, which included the Correctional Managed Care enterprise at the time. She has provided administrative oversight to multiple other UTMB programs, including the Area Health Education Centers, Continuing Medical Education, Educational Outreach, Community Engagement, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the Office of Health Policy and Legislative Affairs. Most recently, Beth has directed the President’s Office Shared Services Administration, making administrative support functions more efficient.
Information Services
Todd Leach, vice president and chief information officer for UTMB, is resigning his position effective Feb. 5, 2021, to pursue other entrepreneurial and educational opportunities. Todd has been with UTMB since 1992 in various roles, but most of us know him as the highly professional leader of UTMB’s Information Services enterprise. Everything UTMB does depends on our IT infrastructure—from our clinical, research and academic enterprises to financial systems, phones, desktop computers and even how the doors lock. His tenure has seen a tremendous evolution in technology that shows no sign of stopping. Where we once kept paper records, we now have Epic. Where we once carried pagers and responded to them on landlines, we now operate with smartphones. Todd has built a tremendous team of trusted professionals who help us all learn and grow with the changes. We will miss his remarkable leadership, expertise and ever-present smile during even the greatest of challenges.
Fortunately for us, Associate Vice President and Deputy Chief Information Officer George Gaddie has agreed to serve as interim vice president and chief information officer. George is already familiar to many of you. He brings a combined 17 years of UTMB experience to this new role, including deep experience in clinical information systems. Over the years, the teams he has led have contributed greatly to our transition to electronic medical records, improved access to care and Best Care success, among many other accomplishments.
Please join me in wishing Sheila and Todd all the best in their new endeavors. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with them. Please also join me in welcoming and supporting Beth and George in their new roles. I greatly appreciate their willingness to step in to ensure a smooth transition as we continue to fulfill our vital mission. We are in good hands.
Thank you.
Ben G. Raimer, MD, MA, FAAP
UTMB President ad interim