Steve Davis, MD, has been president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center since November 22, 2021. He previously served six years as chief operating officer.
Dr. Davis was the driving force behind the medical center’s largest expansion ever, a $600 million Critical Care Building that opened in 2021 for patients with cancer, heart ailments, or other complex conditions. It also features a state-of-the-art emergency department, which serves Cincinnati and surrounding neighborhoods.
Before joining Cincinnati Children’s, Dr. Davis was chief operating officer of Hillcrest Hospital, a 500-bed facility with 2,500 employees that is part of the Cleveland Clinic system. Dr. Davis served the Cleveland Clinic in a variety of key positions from 1996 to 2015.
A pediatric critical care physician, Dr. Davis came to Cincinnati Children’s in 2015 because he wants to change the world of healthcare – for children in Cincinnati and beyond. “I envision a world where all children can reach their full potential – where racial and economic disparities have been eliminated, and where the ZIP code you were born in doesn’t shorten life expectancy or quality of life,” Dr. Davis said.
In 2021, Dr. Davis helped Cincinnati Children’s launch HealthVine, a network of pediatric care providers and organizations. It coordinates excellent, equitable, and value-based care and support services for about 135,000 children and their families across Southwest Ohio.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Davis has played a key role in coordinating the response of local hospitals. As co-chair of the Regional COVID-19 Steering Committee (March 2020-December 2021) and co-chair of the Hamilton County Test and Protect COVID-19 Project, Dr. Davis helped create policies and procedures designed to ensure the best care for patients and to safeguard hospital workers.
Also under the leadership of Dr. Davis, Cincinnati Children’s ramped up telehealth visits during the pandemic – from 2,000 in all of 2019 to more than 5,000 a week in 2020. Many clinical areas now offer telehealth appointments via the CincyKids Health Connect app. Intended for patients who don’t require an in-person visit, the app provides easier access to care for more kids.
In January 2022, Dr. Davis became vice chair of an international network of more than 140 pediatric hospitals – the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety. The network’s efforts have saved more than 18,000 children from serious harm and trimmed an estimated $421.9 million in healthcare costs.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1984, Dr. Davis earned a medical degree in 1989 from the University of Vermont. He was a medical resident at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital from 1989-92 and chief resident from 1992-93. Dr. Davis completed a fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1996.
In 2012, Dr. Davis received a master’s in medical management from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he serves on the faculty and teaches leadership development. He earned a master’s in strategic leadership from Michigan State University in 2020.Dr. Davis grew up in Revere, Mass., outside Boston, and worked in the family’s Italian restaurant during high school. His wife, Denise, is a nurse practitioner. They have four children and two grandchi
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