TriHealth has named John Ward its new Chief Information Officer, as of May 4. Ward has served as the Interim CIO for TriHealth since December 2014 following the retirement of Rick Moore.

Ward is responsible for TriHealth’s day-to-day operations of information services for the organization, which includes four hospitals and more than 550 employed physicians. He also leads several strategic initiatives and capital projects, including development and execution of IS strategy and IS services and support for the system.

"We are thrilled to name John to the position," said Will Groneman, TriHealth’s executive vice president, system development. “John is well respected by our physicians, our staff and the management team. His internal promotion provides continuity to an already high performing department."

[See also: Running list: Notable hires, promotions in health IT.]

As interim CIO for the past six months, Ward and his team oversaw the continued integration of McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital to the TriHealth IS portfolio, which include the transition of the hospital’s electronic medical record system to Epic. He completed the successful approval of an IS Systems operating and capital budget for the new fiscal year. Ward will lead the strategic planning efforts to chart the IS corporate strategy for the next five years.

Ward has spent 10 of his last 11 years working for TriHealth or Group Health. He served as CIO and director of business development at Group Health Associates from 2004 to 2007. From 2007 to 2012, he was the director of health systems integration for TriHealth, before becoming director of ambulatory systems in 2013. In this capacity, he was responsible for the implementation of the Epic EHR with more than 550 TriHealth employed physicians.