by John Howser

Adam Huggins, MD, MMHC, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Vanderbilt Wilson and Sumner Counties and assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been named to the newly created role of Chief of Staff (COS) for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Regional Hospital Division. His appointment is effective March 1.

As Regional Hospital Division COS, Huggins will report to C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC. Reporting to Huggins in this new role will be the chiefs of staff and regional medical staff at each of Vanderbilt Health’s regional hospitals including Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital, Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital and Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital.

Each hospital serves a distinctive role within the Vanderbilt Health System while supporting the health care needs of the communities they serve.

In this new role, Huggins will have oversight for medical staff activities relating to the regional hospitals including professionalism and quality & safety. He will be responsible for collaboration with hospital presidents, hospital chiefs of staff, and relevant regional chief medical officers on medical staff governance and inpatient clinical operations. He will also be responsible for the review of regional medical staff actions and policies.

“Our regional hospitals are growing to meet the needs of the patients and communities they serve. As we consider adding programs, services and people to each facility, it is important to be strategic about this growth and better integrate our decision making, including appropriate oversight for physician personnel,” Pinson said. “Through experience earned while serving as associate CMO for Wilson and Sumner Counties, Dr. Huggins is well positioned for the broader responsibilities of this new role.”

Huggins will also lead regional development of inpatient service lines and will serve as an operations liaison with VUMC’s clinical chairs and associate chief medical officers. He will collaborate with Pinson and John F. Manning Jr., PhD, MBA, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Chief of Staff, regarding inpatient space needs.

“Vanderbilt Health has experienced tremendous growth in the past four years and is poised for that growth to continue. I look forward to working with leadership and staff across VUMC and the regional facilities to help us continue to serve our patients across Middle Tennessee,” Huggins said.

Huggins joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2013 after four years of working in private practice in Nashville. In March 2020, he was appointed Associate Chief Medical Officer for Wilson County, including Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital.

A practicing obstetrician/gynecologist, Huggins serves as director of Outpatient Quality for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has helped expand its use of telemedicine.

Huggins received his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and completed medical school at University of Alabama Birmingham. He did is residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed his Master of Management in Healthcare in 2016 from Vanderbilt Owen School of Management.