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Our Leadership

East Jefferson General Hospital Leadership

Experienced leaders serving you

East Jefferson General Hospital is led by a team of qualified professionals who all share the same commitment to improving health in the greater New Orleans area. Our leadership team works tirelessly to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of every patient who visits our hospital.

Day in and day out, these individuals go the extra mile to help maintain East Jefferson General Hospital’s status as a leading healthcare provider in the region.

Gregory Nielsen, Interim CEO

Greg comes to us from LCMC Health, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he came from American Physician Partners, an emergency and hospital medicine management company with over 2,000 providers at 142 programs in 18 states. Prior to that role, Greg was a Division President for Regional Care Hospital Partners, an 18-hospital system that is now part of LifePoint Health.

A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Nielsen has enjoyed a long-standing career as a senior healthcare executive in both the non-profit and investor-owned sectors. In addition to American Physician Partners, he has served as divisional president of RCCH HealthCare Partners and CEO for CMH Regional Health System, Great Plains Health, Holy Rosary Healthcare, Weston County Health Services of Regional Health, and Mountainview Medical Center.

Jim Wentz, CFO

Jim serves as Chief Financial Officer of East Jefferson General Hospital and brings more than 30 years of financial leadership experience in healthcare to the role. Jim joins us from Ochsner Health System where he was CFO of Ochsner main campus and service lines. Prior to coming to Louisiana, Jim was Senior Vice President of Strategy and CFO of KentuckyOne Health in Louisville. He was also CFO of the University of Mississippi Health System in Jackson, CFO of UT Southwestern’s Hospitals in Dallas, Business Strategy and Finance Leader of Kaiser Permanente’s Eastbay Service Area in Oakland, CA and has had financial leadership roles at Dignity Health and Presbyterian Healthcare Services.

His expertise has been vital to his organizations' growth and success including financial turnarounds, revenue cycle operations, academic funds flow, supply chain management, managed care negotiations, strategic planning, treasury functions, information technology implementations and initiatives, and managed care/clinically integrated network/population health operations. Jim's accomplishments have been recognized by industry leaders, including the top 150 CFOs to know in Becker's.

Ruby Brewer, CNO

Ruby Brewer returned to New Orleans in September 2011 as the Chief Quality Officer at East Jefferson and assumed the role of Chief Nursing and Quality Officer in 2013 bringing a strong clinical background in multiple operational areas such as nursing, lab, radiology, rehabilitation services, trauma services as well as quality and care management. She began her nursing career in Mississippi in 1979 and moved to Texas in 1989 where she spent 22 years in various leadership positions at Good Shepherd Medical Center while obtaining graduate degrees from the University of Texas.

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Jennifer Meyer, CMO

Dr. Meyer is our Chief Medical Officer. She is a board-certified internal medicine physician with over 14 years of experience in the medical field. After receiving her Master of Public Health at the University of Washington, she attended medical school and completed residency at Tulane University School of Medicine. She previously spent five years serving as Medical Director of Hospital Medicine at East Jefferson General Hospital, before transitioning into her current role as CMO. Dr Meyer is originally from Washington state but has been in New Orleans since 2004 and is now proud to call New Orleans home.

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Mike McKendall, VP of Operations

Mike serves as the Vice President of Operations which includes oversight over Pharmacy, Environmental Services, Patient Transport, PBX, Food and Nutrition, and Safety and Emergency Preparedness. He has over 13 years of healthcare experience with a majority of that time in a leadership role. Mike came to East Jefferson from Slidell Memorial Hospital in Slidell, Louisiana where he served as the Senior Director of Ancillary Services. He has a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Doctorate of Pharmacy from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Masters degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of New Orleans. Mike is an accomplished leader in and out of the organization, serving on Slidell Farmer’s Market and Slidell’s Heritage Festival Board of Directors. In addition, he is a preceptor for Xavier University College of Pharmacy and William Carey College of Pharmacy students, where he holds a title of clinical assistant professor and was selected as Institutional Preceptor of the Year in 2018 and 2019.

Joni Lemoine, VP of Physician Services

Joni serves as Vice President of Physician Services for the East Jefferson Provider Group. She comes to us from Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group in Baton Rouge as the Senior Director of Operations where she was responsible for a group of over 150 providers. She successfully led efforts to increase patient access and drive standardization for all adult specialty practices in acute, ambulatory and campus health care settings. Prior to joining Our Lady of the Lake, Joni spent most of her career at Baton Rouge General where she started as a Registered Nurse. She went on to become a Nurse Manager, Director of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer. Joni brings more than 20 years of healthcare leadership to the role as well as invaluable experience in bedside care. She is a proven leader known for her business development knowledge and mentorship