Patty Lavely

Former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Gwinnett Medical Centre

Patty Lavely is a 20-year healthcare executive with over 30 years as a technology and operations leader. She has extensive knowledge of the provider side of the healthcare industry. She is a Boardroom Qualified Technology Expert (QTE) as certified by the Digital Directors Network. Patty is currently the Chair of a non-profit board and has served on several professional membership organization boards. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, Private Directors Association and the Digital Directors Network. In her executive roles, Patty has gained significant experience reporting to boards as the CIO and CISO. Patty is the principal consultant for CIO Consulting, LLC.

Most recently, Patty was the Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer for the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. This organization is a special taxing district of Palm Beach County that includes rural healthcare, Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers, school nurses for the county, a health plan for the uninsured, a long-term care facility, as well as the trauma network. In 2021, she led the technology initiative for a fully digital mass Covid-19 vaccination operation in Palm Beach County, Florida partnering with a technology firm to develop the software. This initiative administered more than 200,000 vaccines to Palm Beach County residents.

Patty established CIO Consulting in 2011 to provide services as an interim CIO and extend existing CIOs’ reach. As an interim CIO, Patty worked with investors to develop and implement technology standards for an emerging healthcare system in New Jersey. She also served healthcare organizations in Georgia and Florida as an interim IT leader.

Cybersecurity governance became a focus as the healthcare industry became the target of cyber criminals. In 2014, Patty began the development of a comprehensive cyber security program for Gwinnett Health System. She reported to the Audit and Compliance Committee of the board for this function. Prior to 2014, her cyber security experience was focused on healthcare regulation.

As the CIO for 5 premier healthcare organizations over more than 20 years, Patty has significant experience in providing monthly reports to the board and semi-annual education sessions. The scope and size of these organizations and the roles varies from managing a small department of 50 IT professionals to more than 500 IT, imaging, clinical engineering, and telecommunication employees with a $100M operating budget.

Patty has been recognized by the GeorgiaCIO Leadership Association twice as a finalist CIO of the Year and in 2008 as the CIO of the Year for the Public/Non Profit Sector. She was acknowledged by Becker’s Healthcare in 2019 as a CIO to Know and Women in IT to Know.