Cedars-Sinai has named Peter L. Slavin, MD, as the next president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Health System, effective Oct. 1.
Slavin, one of the nation’s premier leaders in academic medicine, succeeds Thomas M. Priselac, who is retiring after 30 years as president and CEO and 45 total years of total service to Cedars-Sinai.
“We express our profound gratitude to Tom Priselac for his remarkable leadership in building Cedars-Sinai into an internationally recognized name in healthcare, and we warmly welcome Dr. Slavin to the Cedars-Sinai family,” said David Kaplan, chair of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center board of directors.
“We wish Dr. Slavin every success in strengthening Cedars-Sinai’s mission to serve as a beacon of healing for our patients and community.”
Related Stories
‘The Big Cigar’ Is One Of The Greatest Stories Never Told
Terence Simpson and Team Build Community with JoinLinks
Slavin served as president of Massachusetts General, one of the largest hospitals in the U.S., from 2003 to 2021. During his tenure, he successfully led major growth in the hospital’s clinical care mission, research funding, scientific impact, workforce development and fundraising.
He said his proudest moments at Mass General often came from the most difficult circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic, when physicians, nurses and other staff met the test of the unknown with resilience and resolve. He points with equal pride to the hospital earning the highest national awards for community health and equity, particularly the American Hospital Association’s inaugural Equity of Care Award in 2014.
“I am humbled to follow in Tom Priselac’s footsteps,” Slavin said. “He has been one of my heroes as I’ve watched Cedars-Sinai’s progress over the years from 2,700 miles away. It is an incredible honor to join Cedars-Sinai and to do my part to build on the organization’s growth and success.”
Dr. Slavin also has been an influential voice for hospitals on the national stage, chairing the board of the Association of American Medical Colleges and becoming an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
“With his deep experience in academic medicine, Dr. Slavin is perfectly suited to lead Cedars-Sinai’s ongoing effort to serve the Los Angeles region,” said Lawrence B. Platt, chair of the Cedars-Sinai Health System board of directors. “We truly appreciate a leader of his caliber.”
Slavin graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. In 1984, he began his training in internal medicine at Mass General, launching a nearly 40-year relationship with the hospital. While on staff at Mass General, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and developed the hospital’s first quality and utilization management program.
In 1994, he was appointed Mass General’s senior vice president and chief medical officer. Three years later, he was recruited to serve as the first president of the newly merged Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He returned to Boston in 1999 to serve as chair and CEO of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, which included more than 1,700 physicians.
In 2003, he was appointed president of Mass General, the third oldest hospital in the country and the largest Harvard teaching hospital, with more than 900 inpatient beds and the largest hospital-based research program in the U.S.
During his tenure, Slavin taught internal medicine at Mass General and served as a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School. He stepped down as Mass General president in 2021 to pursue his interests in healthcare investment, advising and consulting.
In joining Cedars-Sinai, Slavin said he is returning to his true calling—serving patients and the community. He joins an organization focused squarely on both as it expands access to healthcare closer to where people live across the region and internationally.
“Dr. Slavin is the ideal individual to lead Cedars-Sinai,” Priselac said. “He is guided by conscience, heart, vision and ingenuity, and he understands the challenges of complex organizations like Cedars-Sinai. We are in excellent hands with him.”
