Christopher Moriates, MD, has been named executive director of the nonprofit health care organization Costs of Care (Boston). He replaces Neel Shah, MD, who was tabbed chairperson of the board.
Dr. Moriates serves a number of roles at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the assistant dean for health care value; associate chair for quality, safety and value; and associate professor of internal medicine.
In his role at Costs of Care, Dr. Moriates will direct an organization that uses feedback and stories from frontline physicians to help health systems provide high-quality care at lower costs.
Kai Mebust, MD, was recently named the new associate chief of medicine at Bassett Hospital (Cooperstown, N.Y.), where he has worked the past 15 years as a hospitalist and internist, serving as chief of hospitalists for the last decade. Dr. Mebust also completed his internship and residency at Bassett, and he is a fellow with the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Dr. Mebust will work closely with Dr. Charles Hyman, the center’s physician in chief, who is leaving the role at the end of the calendar year. Dr. Mebust will oversee inpatient services and be part of the transition process when Dr. Hyman departs.
Ronak Bhimani, MD, has been appointed chief medical officer at Lower Bucks Hospital (Bristol, Pa.). Dr. Bhimani moves over from Suburban Community Hospital (Norristown, Pa.), where he served as an academic hospitalist the past 2 years.
Previously, Dr. Bhimani was medical director of Kindred/Avalon Hospice and a core faculty member in the internal medicine program for residents at Suburban Community.
Dr. Danielle Prince
Danielle Prince, MD, was recently named associate medical director at St. Luke’s Siouxland PACE (Sioux City, Iowa), an affiliate of UnityPoint Health. Dr. Prince is a practicing hospitalist at UnityPoint Health St. Luke’s and served previously in as a family physician while working as chief medical informatics officer at Mercy Medical Center (Sioux City).
At Siouxland PACE, Dr. Prince will assist in managing the full-service care of elderly patients, including home health, specialty care, medications, transportation, and other therapies.
Alex Rankin, MD, has been named the new associate chief medical officer for the University of New Mexico Health Transfer Center and Patient Throughput in Albuquerque. A hospitalist with UNMH’s Family and Community Medicine department, Dr. Rankin was previously the medical director at the system’s 3 North facility since 2014.
Dr. Alexander Rankin
Dr. Rankin came to UNMH after working for hospitals in Colorado and Nebraska and is a founding member of the UNMH patient flow committee, striving to improve patient care processes throughout the institution.
Tom Guirkin, MD, has been appointed vice president of medical affairs for Virginia Commonwealth University Community Memorial Hospital (South Hill, Va.). Dr. Guirkin, a Virginia native, returns to his home state after most recently overseeing the hospitalist group at Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, Okla.).