Since joining Stanford Health Care (SHC) in 2016, David Entwistle has led the health system through a period of significant transformation and growth, advancing its standing as a national leader in patient care, innovation, and community health. He played a key role in uniting SHC, the Stanford School of Medicine, and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health under an integrated strategic plan, with a shared vision to lead the biomedical revolution in Precision Health. Through that vision, he established Catalyst, Stanford Medicine’s flagship innovation accelerator, and oversaw the completion of the new Stanford Hospital, which opened in 2019 and was a cornerstone of Stanford Medicine’s COVID-19 response. Throughout the pandemic and in intervening years, SHC has served as a critical resource for its surrounding communities, providing key support for residents’ health and wellbeing through investments and collaborations with local organizations.
Under Entwistle’s leadership, SHC has earned recognition for quality, safety, and clinical excellence from the LeapFrog Group, Vizient, U.S. News & World Report, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. SHC has also been recognized for nursing excellence through the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet program and for digital innovation through the Davies Award of Excellence from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Additionally, SHC was among the first U.S. health systems to receive The Joint Commission’s Sustainable Healthcare certification and, in 2025, was named one of the nation’s top 25 hospitals for all-around sustainability performance by Practice Greenhealth.
A recognized voice in health care innovation, Entwistle is a national thought leader on artificial intelligence and digital health innovation, hospital quality improvement, and sustainability in health care. He has been named a Great Healthcare Leader to Know by Becker’s Hospital Review and has twice been recognized on the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Power 100 list.
Prior to SHC, Entwistle served as CEO of the University of Utah Hospital & Clinics (UUHC), for nine years. During his tenure, the organization earned a number of prestigious accolades, including a No. 1 national ranking by Vizient in its annual Quality and Accountability Study of U.S. academic medical centers. For his administrative contributions to UUHC and for his long-standing track record in quality achievement, Entwistle received the Modern Healthcare “Up and Comers Award” in 2008.
Prior to UUHC, Entwistle served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin, from 2002 to 2007. He was also the former vice president of Professional Services and Joint Venture Operations at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.
He serves on the boards of Vizient and the California Hospital Association and is a past board member of the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Teaching Hospitals, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. He is the past chair of the Utah Hospital Association and was appointed by the governor of Utah to the state’s Medicaid Task Force.
Entwistle earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in health services administration from Arizona State University. He also was awarded a postgraduate administrative fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
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