Ronald Lavater

Board Member

CEO

IHF Geneva, Switzerland

Ronald Lavater, MPA, FACHE, joined the International Hospital Federation (IHF) in 2020 as its Chief Executive Officer. He leads the IHF Secretariat team and all its programmes, including the Geneva Sustainability Centre, and the annual World Hospital Congress and IHF Awards.

Ronald is a healthcare executive with 25 years’ leadership experience in public and investor-owned healthcare companies in the USA and international markets. With extensive knowledge of hospital operations and ambulatory services, including retail urgent care, Ronald has a deep and broad-based understanding of the healthcare services sector with a global perspective.

Before joining the IHF, he served as CEO of WellStreet Urgent Care in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2014 to 2016, he was the CEO for Al Noor Hospitals Group, Plc. He also worked for six years for Johns Hopkins Medicine International, serving first as CEO of Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi for five years, and later as a senior executive representing many of the company’s interests in the Middle East.

Ronald began his healthcare career in 1993 as an analyst for senior management of insurance company Blue Cross and Blue Shield. After a few years, he was recruited by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) where he held several leadership roles in US hospitals for over a decade, including CEO and COO. Ronald has also served as a Non-Executive Director for Optegra Eye Health Care.

Ronald holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in public administration from Florida State University. He is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and previously completed a two-year term as president of the Middle East & North Africa ACHE group.