HCA Healthcare Appoints Wendy Warren as SVP & Chief Ethics Officer
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, has announced the appointment of Wendy Warren as senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer, effective March 3, 2025. Warren, who has been with HCA Healthcare for over 10 years, will succeed Kathi Whalen, who is retiring after 27 years of service with the company.
In her new role, Warren will lead HCA Healthcare’s ethics, compliance, and regulatory department. Her primary responsibility will be to ensure that the company continues to uphold its high ethical standards while supporting employees in their efforts to provide outstanding patient care. Warren’s leadership will be crucial in maintaining the integrity of the company’s operations and fostering a culture of ethics and compliance.
“Wendy has demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic insight, and an unwavering commitment to supporting our efforts to improve more lives in more ways,” said Mike McAlevey, executive vice president and chief legal and administrative officer for HCA Healthcare. “I am confident that under Wendy’s leadership, our ethics, compliance, and regulatory department will continue to uphold high standards of integrity and support the company’s mission.”
Before this appointment, Warren served as associate general counsel and vice president of payer contracting and alignment at Parallon, HCA Healthcare’s business services division. In this capacity, she provided operational leadership for the legal department and offered guidance on the company’s relationships with managed care payers. She also led the company’s response to major regulatory and legislative initiatives.
Warren joined HCA Healthcare after a successful career as a partner at Bass, Berry & Sims, where she specialized in the litigation of commercial disputes. Her legal expertise and experience in healthcare compliance and regulatory matters will be key assets as she transitions into her new role.
Warren holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from The University of Texas School of Law and graduated from Fisk University. Her extensive background in law, healthcare compliance, and strategic leadership positions her well to lead the company’s ethics and compliance efforts in the years ahead.
Warren will succeed Kathi Whalen, who has been a key figure at HCA Healthcare for nearly three decades. Whalen played an instrumental role in developing the company’s code of conduct, policies, and procedures, as well as designing the annual training and education programs. Her contributions to the company’s ethics and compliance structure have been invaluable. Additionally, Whalen has served as the chair of HCA Healthcare’s Sustainability Steering Committee, overseeing efforts to advance the company’s commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility.
“It’s an honor to recognize Kathi for her 27 years of dedicated service to HCA Healthcare,” said McAlevey. “Kathi has been a trusted leader to many of us, and we will certainly miss her wise counsel. Her leadership has been instrumental in shaping the ethics and compliance culture at HCA Healthcare, and we wish her all the best in her retirement.”
HCA Healthcare, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States, with a network of 187 hospitals and around 2,400 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, spread across 20 states and the United Kingdom.
Since its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare has created a new model for hospital care in the United States, combining resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care, and improve the practice of medicine. The company has also conducted numerous clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44%.
With more than 43 million annual patient encounters, HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its data to advance science, improve patient care, and save lives. The company’s continued commitment to providing high-quality, compassionate care is reflected in the leadership of professionals like Wendy Warren, who will guide HCA Healthcare’s ethics and compliance initiatives moving forward.
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