Karen Barbara "Bobbi" Carbone, M.D., M.B.A., has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wake Forest Baptist Health, effective March 1.
Carbone has focused on quality, patient safety and value-based care during her career as a cardiac anesthesiologist and hospital administrator. She has served since 2011 in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA), most recently as group chief operating officer, clinical operations. SEHA is a government-owned corporation with 12 hospitals, 62 ambulatory sites, 2,644 beds and 17,000 employees, including 2,600 physicians from 60 countries. She also led the SEHA’s clinical affiliation partnerships with Johns Hopkins University and Cleveland Clinic.
“With responsibility for the full continuum of health system services, Dr. Carbone’s initial priorities will include continuing to improve patient satisfaction through high-quality care delivery and improved access, optimizing care coordination and delivery in the right setting, quality improvement of patient-related business systems, and leadership that encourages faculty and staff commitment and alignment,” said John D. McConnell, M.D., chief executive officer, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “Working in partnership with the dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Carbone will ensure that the three-part mission of education, clinical care delivery and research are fully integrated and operating optimally.”
Carbone succeeds Thomas E. Sibert, M.D., president and chief operating officer, Wake Forest Baptist Health, who announced his planned retirement for this year. Sibert will step down as health system president on March 1. He will continue to serve as interim chair of psychiatry and special advisor to McConnell regarding Medicaid and health care reform strategies until his retirement effective Aug. 31.
“As we implement a transition to new roles, I want to thank Dr. Sibert for his continued leadership and support,” McConnell said. “We are delighted he will remain here in key positions. We will celebrate his accomplishments as we near his retirement next summer.”
Prior to her work in Abu Dhabi, Carbone was the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Mich., a $2 billion, three-hospital system with 15,000 employees. Before that, she was chief clinical operation officer for Memorial City Hospital, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, where she partnered with the chief medical officer to link quality, patient safety and risk management with cost containment. From 2003 to 2008, she was healthcare director and a faculty member at Rice University's Jones School of Management in Houston, where she lectured on health care management for senior medical and administrative leaders. She also has served as senior vice president for medical affairs at Main Line Health, part of Jefferson Health System in Philadelphia; and as associate vice president for clinical effectiveness and quality, and corporate director of strategic planning and benefits realization, information services, at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Dr. Carbone brings a unique range of experience to our institution,” McConnell said. “She will be a tremendous asset to our leadership team.”
Carbone earned her M.B.A. at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2001 and her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1983. She completed a residency in anesthesia at Northwestern University Medical School in 1986 and completed a fellowship in cardiac anesthesia at the University of Michigan Medical School in 1987. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1979.
Becker’s Hospital Review named her among the “Top 52 Women Hospital and HealthCare Leaders” in 2011.
Carbone has two children. Her son is a sophomore at Harvard and her daughter is pursuing a doctorate at Yale.
Media Relations
Mac Ingraham: mingraha@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-3487