SEARHC Hires Dr. Bruhl as Vice President/Chief Medical Officer

JUNEAU—SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) has hired Elliot J. Bruhl, M.D. to assume the newly created systemwide position of Vice President/Chief Medical Officer (VP/CMO). SEARHC created the VP/CMO position to enhance the coordination and communication of the medical staff and the rest of the Consortium. Dr. Bruhl will begin on May 6, 2019, and will provide medical and clinical expertise and serve as a resource to SEARHC’s senior leadership, medical staff and clinical employees. Additionally, he will provide leadership in quality efforts and be an ambassador for SEARHC with its key stakeholders and communities.

“By creating the VP/CMO position, SEARHC will be in a stronger position to meet the challenges ahead and evolve as an integrated healthcare delivery system,” said SEARHC President and Chief Executive Officer Charles Clement. “Our patients and communities are our top priorities, and Dr. Bruhl’s strong experience will be a tremendous asset in ensuring we continue providing the best of care.”

Dr. Bruhl has accumulated leadership and management experience in both Tribal and non-Tribal healthcare and has a proven track record in developing and implementing quality improvement measures. He served as the Medical Director for Mountainside Clinic in Sitka from 2006 to 2008 where, among other things, he coordinated the merger with the Moore Clinic and redesigned the physician-practice model. From 2013 to 2015, Bruhl served as Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital’s Medical Director where he supervised the full-time medical staff, served on the leadership team, recruited physicians and established a new compliance system. He is currently the Medical Director of the Northeast and Northwest Family Clinics of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and serves as a consulting physician in the Mayo Clinic Department of Family Medicine and as an Assistant Professor in the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Carleton College in Northfield, MN and a Master of Science in Hydrology from the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID, Dr. Bruhl earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Colorado in Denver, CO.

Clement further commented, “Our patients and communities are our top priorities, and I am confident Dr. Bruhl will provide the leadership needed to enrich the medical staff’s effectiveness, strengthen SEARHC’s clinical capacity and improve positive communications.”