David Sylvan named Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at University Hospitals

Succeeds Chief Strategic Planning Officer Paul Tait, retiring at end of September

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals has named David Sylvan Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer to succeed Paul G. Tait who is retiring after 27 years next month.

Sylvan will amplify and accelerate the health system’s position as the leading provider of health care in Northeast Ohio.

Currently, Sylvan is President of UH Ventures, a position he has held since 2020, and will continue to hold.

“David and his team will leverage the combination of UH Ventures’ design and process discipline with the existing strategy and planning platform,” said UH CEO Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair. “This combination will represent a unique offering, leveraging the power of data and insights to identify and address our highest-value problems in order to reinforce UH’s mission and impact.”

Tait helped grow UH across the region and expand access to quality health care to countless people, including the acquisition of the Lake Health system and development of UH Ahuja Medical Center, among many other contributions.

Sylvan joined UH Ventures in 2015. His current portfolio of responsibilities includes core operations, industry partnerships, technology transfer, commercialization and investments, business development and strategic initiatives. He collaborates with UH leaders and the broader ecosystem to accelerate system growth through new business endeavors and expansion of existing programs. His work also includes identification and evaluation of new opportunities through acquisition, investment, joint ventures and other arrangements.

He has more than 35 years of diverse corporate experience. He came to Cleveland from New York to join the sports marketing giant, IMG, where he spent eight years, before a successful 16-year career in capital markets and investment banking. He began his career in public accounting with Deloitte in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sylvan is an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Business in the department of Design & Innovation. He holds a number of board roles in various capacities. He is also a frequent contributor on various national forums, with a focus on health care innovation.

He received a bachelor’s degree in commerce and business law from the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, and an MBA from the CWRU Weatherhead School of Management.