News | November 3, 2016

CHIME Foundation Honors Witt/Kieffer's Linda Hodges For Advancing Health IT Careers

During her illustrious career, Linda Hodges has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to helping chief information officers and other health IT leaders advance their careers and have a positive impact on the nation’s healthcare system. In recognition of her dedication to the industry, the CHIME Foundation today honored Hodges, former senior vice president and IT practice leader at Witt/Kieffer, with the 2016 CHIME Foundation Industry Leader Award, which was presented at the CHIME16 Fall CIO Forum in Phoenix.

“Linda has worked with thousands of CIOs and other health IT leaders, typically doing so one candidate, one client at a time,” said Charles Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, vice president of technology and engagement, Indiana Health Information Exchange, and chair of the CHIME Foundation board of directors. “Her track record as an executive recruiter speaks for itself, but what really stands out is her passion for this industry, our profession and helping health IT leaders transform the delivery system.”

Hodges, who retired in 2015, has also been an ardent supporter of CHIME and has volunteered her time and energy to numerous initiatives, including serving on the Foundation board of directors from 2009-2012. She was instrumental in recruiting Russell Branzell to become CHIME’s president and CEO in 2013.

“Having the right leader in place, matching the corporate culture, the skill set and the right experience, are critical for healthcare IT to make a positive impact on the industry,” Hodges said. “When I began working in the healthcare IT field in the 1980's, there were no CIO’s. If a healthcare organization was interested in automation, they had positions called data processing directors or managers. Much of IT was outsourced. We began seeing the CIO role develop in the 1990’s. The CIO role has grown into a critical executive position on the senior management teams of most organizations. CHIME has led the effort and education for today’s CIOs and has publicly been the voice of the industry.”

To learn more about the CHIME Foundation Industry Leader Award, click here(https://chimecentral.org/awards/chime-foundation-industry-leader-award/).

About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,000 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.chimecentral.org.