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SearchDeborah C. Gordon, J.D., will join Cleveland Clinic
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.”
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation, Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 83,000 employees worldwide are more than 6,600 salaried physicians and researchers, and 21,900 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,725-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 300 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2025, there were 15.9 million outpatient encounters, 343,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 336,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at x.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources are available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
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