James E. Shmerling is President & CEO (CCMC)
James E. Shmerling was named President and Chief Executive Officer at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. on October 1, 2015. For over three decades, Dr. Shmerling has served in management roles in children’s hospitals and is nationally recognized as a leader in issues concerning children’s health and wellness.
Prior to joining Connecticut Children’s, Dr. Shmerling spent the last eight years as the Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Hospital Colorado, one of the top ranked children’s hospitals in the nation. Before that, he was the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt from 2002 to 2007. He was the Senior Vice President of Methodist Healthcare and President of Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center from 1995 to 2002, and was Le Bonheur’s Chief Operating Officer from 1991 to 1995. He served as the Associate Director of Hospitals at Indiana University Hospitals and Administrator of the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children from 1987 to 1991. Dr. Shmerling’s career in children’s hospitals began in the Children’s Hospital of Alabama where he progressed in administrative responsibilities from 1979 to1987, the last of which was as its Associate Administrator.
He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Education from the University of Tennessee in 1976. In 1980, he was awarded a Master of Science Degree in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Samford University in 1984 and his Doctorate of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999.
Dr. Shmerling is a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE). He is an adjunct faculty member in the Hospital Administration programs, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Additionally, Dr. Shmerling is active in several national healthcare organizations.
Currently he serves as:
Board member of the Children’s Hospital Group, Dublin, Ireland
Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Salt Lake City, Utah
Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Children’s Hospital Association, Alexandria, VA
Chair of the Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc., Overland Park, KS, a component entity of the Children’s Hospital Association
Chair Elect on the Governing Council of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Maternal and Child Health, Washington, D.C.
Past Board Chair of the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO), Denver, Colorado
Board member of Virtual PICU Systems, LLC, Los Angeles, California
Dr. Shmerling is a native of Nashville, Tennessee.
