Cleveland Clinic announced today that Deborah C. Gordon, J.D., has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, effective June 1. She will succeed David W. Rowan, J.D., who after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to Cleveland Clinic will be retiring from his current role and will serve as a senior advisor to CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., who holds the Morton L. Mandel CEO Chair.
Gordon joins Cleveland Clinic from Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Texas, where she served as Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Legal Officer since 2017. In this role, she oversaw legal, compliance, enterprise risk, privacy, government relations and several other business functions.
Prior to joining Memorial Hermann, Gordon was Partner and Vice Chair, Corporate Department at Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, in Chicago, Illinois, where she represented health systems, hospitals, physician groups and other healthcare entities in complex transactions, regulatory matters and litigation. She also served as Associate General Counsel at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare and Assistant General Counsel at University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System.
“I am pleased to welcome Deborah to the Cleveland Clinic family,” said Dr. Mihaljevic. “She will be a valuable addition to our team as we advance our mission and vision across the enterprise. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation for the impact Dave has had over his tenure, I value his counsel and the depth of experience he will bring to this new role.”