Robin Hemphill named chief quality and safety officer at VCU Health

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Robin Hemphill, M.D.
Robin Hemphill, M.D.

After an extensive national search, Robin Hemphill, M.D., has been named chief quality and safety officer at VCU Health. Hemphill will serve as associate dean of safety and quality and the Dr. Gene N. Peterson Professor of Quality, Safety and Service at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. In addition to her administrative and academic roles, Hemphill will serve as a clinical professor of emergency medicine at VCU School of Medicine.

“Dr. Hemphill comes to us with an extensive background in patient safety, quality, and disaster preparedness at the national and state levels,” said Deborah Davis, CEO of VCU Health System Hospitals and Clinics and vice president for clinical affairs at VCU. “Her track record of success across complex organizations and prestigious medical centers makes her uniquely qualified for this role.”

Prior to joining VCU Health, Hemphill served for more than six years as chief patient safety officer at the Veterans Health Administration, where she was responsible for systemwide safety and quality initiatives for more than 160 Department of Veterans Administration hospitals across the country. Hemphill also served as director of the VA National Center for Patient Safety in that role.

While at the Veterans Health Administration, Hemphill expanded the role of the VA chief resident in quality and safety, of which there are now more than 80 nationwide. The expansion of that role enabled the VA to partner with academic medical centers across the country to work as multidisciplinary teams addressing quality and safety.

During her tenure at the VA, Hemphill and her colleagues visited Richmond to learn about VCU Health’s journey toward becoming a high-reliability organization. “I was impressed by how VCU Health was thinking about safety and quality and how intentional its culture was,” Hemphill said. “I could tell VCU Health was doing well by doing good, and I became intrigued by a potential role here.”

Prior to her role at the VA, Hemphill served as a physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Emory Healthcare.

“In addition to her vast leadership experience and health care policy work, Dr. Hemphill is a practicing emergency medicine physician who is well-regarded for her academic and teaching roles,” said Peter F. Buckley, M.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine.

While at Vanderbilt, Hemphill served as medical director for the Tennessee State Health Resources and Services Administration Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness Program, where she gained experience in disaster and bioterrorism preparedness.

Hemphill served in the U.S. Air Force and completed her residency at the Brooke Army and Wilford Hall medical centers. She obtained her medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She holds a master’s degree in public health from Vanderbilt University and an undergraduate degree from Syracuse University.

Hemphill completed a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship at the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). She is author and co-author of numerous book chapters, articles and abstracts. Further, she has served as a peer reviewer and conducted research on a range of clinical topics including emergency and disaster preparedness and bioterrorism training.