Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that today, the University of California Board of Regents approved the appointment of Nicholas Holmes, MD, MBA, as president of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals (BCH) and senior vice president of UCSF Health children’s services.

Nicholas will be responsible for UCSF BCH San Francisco and UCSF BCH Oakland which together are among the top 10 largest children’s health care providers in the country. The BCH network of care includes six hospital affiliates, 12 specialty satellites, and 180 primary care pediatricians at more than 50 locations across the Bay Area.

Nicholas will oversee strategic direction and operations for all pediatric clinical services across the health system, including UCSF owned and operated sites and affiliated programs, locations and physicians. He also will partner closely with our academic programs and will be accountable for the high-quality, coordinated and innovative delivery of pediatric care. He will report to me and to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Board of Directors and will be a core member of the UCSF Health leadership team and the UCSF Health Leadership Council.

Nicholas joins BCH at a particularly dynamic period with several major initiatives underway, including the expansion of our pediatric inpatient capacity at Mission Bay and the construction of a new $1.5 billion state-of-the-art facility at our Oakland campus. Additionally, with the recent launch of a new five-year strategic plan, BCH is strengthening services and expanding its regional presence to provide families throughout the Bay Area with world-class care.

A seasoned health care leader, Nicholas brings a wealth of experience in clinical care and operations. Since 2014, he has served as senior vice president and chief operating officer for the San Diego-based Rady Children's Hospital, a non-profit, pediatric care facility with an academic affiliation with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and $2 billion in operating revenue. During his tenure at Rady Children's, he also served as chief of the division of pediatric urology and held a number of operational leadership roles.

Previously, Nicholas had a 15-year career in the United States Navy, where he served as head urologist and specialty advisor to the Navy surgeon general, assisting in shaping health care policy and graduate medical education. In addition, he served as chairman of the department of urology at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego from 2005 to 2007.

Nicholas earned his medical degree at Georgetown School of Medicine, where he discovered his passion for surgery and the care of pediatric patients. He completed his urology residency at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, and his fellowship training in pediatric urology at UCSF. He also completed a business of medicine certificate program at Johns Hopkins University School of Professional Studies in Business and Education and holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the outstanding leadership team at BCH, especially Joan Zoltanski, MD, chief medical officer for BCH, who has been serving as interim president. 

Nicholas will join us on March 11. Please join me in welcoming him to UCSF, UCSF Health and especially to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.

Suresh Gunasekaran
President and CEO
UCSF Health