Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta, Ga Heart Doctors

Michele Molden, President and CEO of Piedmont Heart Institute, Named by Modern Healthcare

ATLANTA (April 20, 2009) – Michele Molden, president and CEO of the Piedmont Heart Institute, has been named to Modern Healthcare’s list of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare for 2009.  The list recognizes female healthcare executives from across the nation who are making a positive difference and whose work has led to significant improvements in the healthcare industry and its ability to care for patients.

“Michele is an energetic, positive force with a can-do attitude.  She is tireless in her pursuit of making healthcare innovations and advances available to the communities we serve,” said R. Timothy Stack, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare.  “We are proud to have her as part of our organization and congratulate her on this honor.”

“With so many women in positions of authority in healthcare, the chances of changing the system for the better are greater than ever,” said David Burda, editor of Modern Healthcare. “Our Top 25 Women in Healthcare were not satisfied with the status quo of the healthcare executive career track.  They surely won’t be satisfied with the status quo of the healthcare system they increasingly run.”

In order to be selected for the program, the candidate must have successfully served as a leader or managed an organization or company; shown the ability or power to effect change in the healthcare industry; demonstrated a willingness to share expertise with others in the field; served as a role model or mentor to other female healthcare executives; and assumed a leadership position in the industry outside of the candidates’ own organization or company.

Nominations are submitted from all sectors of the industry, including hospitals, health systems, physician organizations, insurance, government, vendors and suppliers, trade and professional organizations, and patients’ rights groups.

Molden facilitated the integration of three Atlanta-region cardiology groups and the corresponding formation of the Piedmont Heart Institute (PHI); led the development of Piedmont Healthcare’s first-ever Women's Leadership Alliance (WLA); and shares her knowledge of the industry as an adjunct assistant professor in the Executive Master of Health Administration (MHA) program at the University of Washington's (UW) School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

Molden was instrumental in the creation of the Center for Health and Learning, a partnership between Piedmont Healthcare and Mercer University which includes the Piedmont Nursing Scholars program, a new Ph.D. program in nursing, a new master’s level physicians assistant program, and a master’s level family therapy program.

Prior to her work with PHI, Molden served as executive vice president for business development and then chief administrative officer and executive vice president for Piedmont Healthcare.  Previously she was in leadership positions with Olympic Health Management System of Bellingham, Washington, and Saint Joseph’s Health System of Atlanta.