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Leon Haley, MD, named College of Medicine – Jacksonville dean

Image: Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA, FACEP, CPE
Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA, FACEP, CPE

Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA, FACEP, CPE, has been named dean of the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville. He will officially assume his new role Jan. 1, 2017. The appointment was announced today by David S. Guzick, MD, PhD, president of UF Health and senior vice president for health affairs at the University of Florida.

“Dr. Haley brings a wealth of experience to his position as dean. Rising up the academic ranks to become professor of emergency medicine at Emory University, he has excelled as a clinician, scholar and administrator. At Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory’s safety-net hospital, Dr. Haley assumed increasing responsibilities for all faculty matters and has excelled in his current role as executive associate dean for clinical affairs,” Guzick said. “He will serve as an exemplary academic and clinical leader for our faculty in Jacksonville and will work closely with Dr. Mike Good, dean of the UF College of Medicine, and hospital administrators at UF Health Jacksonville, to deliver exceptional and cost-effective patient care while building on the exciting momentum occurring at UF Health North.”

In addition to his roles as professor of emergency medicine and executive associate dean at Emory, Haley serves as chief medical officer of the Emory Medical Care Foundation in Atlanta. Haley formerly served as deputy senior vice president of medical affairs, chief of emergency medicine for Grady Health System and vice chair of emergency medicine at Emory University. Prior to his positions at Grady and Emory, Haley was a senior staff physician at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

“Dr. Haley has demonstrated throughout his career that he has all the requisite skills to lead the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville during a very exciting time,” said Guy Benrubi, MD, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the college. “In the next decade, this institution will reach new heights in clinical medicine, research and educational excellence. Dr. Haley will be an astute, caring, compassionate and gracious leader.” 

Haley completed his undergraduate degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. Haley completed his residency in emergency medicine at the Henry Ford Health System, serving a year as chief resident. Haley is board-certified in emergency medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

He is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Physician Executives. He was also a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Health and Insurance Status.

Haley’s primary academic interest has been identifying and evaluating strategies to enhance the delivery of high-quality emergency care to large numbers of patients in the emergency room setting. He is credited with successfully implementing a rapid medical evaluation process in the Grady Memorial Hospital emergency room that resulted in, among other things, decreasing the number of patients leaving without being seen by 50 percent, decreasing the time for patients to see an emergency medicine provider by 45 minutes and reducing the length of stay for the lowest-acuity patients by three hours.

Haley completed the Woodruff Leadership Program at Emory University and a fellowship for the National Association of Public Hospital Program. He has been funded by the Department of Defense, SAMSA, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Healthcare Foundation of Georgia. Haley served on the state of Georgia’s Trauma Network Commission as an appointee of the Georgia Lt. Governor.

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Haley to UF Health Jacksonville. His academic and clinical experience provide an understanding of our environment in a way that will allow him to be successful,” said Russ Armistead, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville. “He has the skill set to work with our patients, the city of Jacksonville and the Florida Legislature to make us a better place. I am pleased that he has agreed to join us.”

Haley has received the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Healthcare Heroes “Up and Comers Award” as well as numerous other honors, including listings in Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 Leaders Under 40” and the International Who’s Who of Professionals. He also has been named the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants Physician of the Year and received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Pink Ice Gala Community Service Award and the Delta Sigma Theta Golden Torch Award.

Haley is married to Carla Neal-Haley, MD, who is an internist and pediatrician and CEO at Genesis Healthcare Inc. The couple has one daughter, Nichelle, and two sons, Grant and Wesley.