Arlen Jarrett, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Steward Healthcare’s Utah operations, was recently awarded the 2021 Distinguished Service to Healthcare Award by the Utah Hospital Association. The award, presented during the Association’s Fall Leadership Conference at Deer Valley in Park City, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to improving healthcare in the state of Utah.
As Chief Medical Officer for Steward Health Care’s Utah region, Dr. Jarrett has served as the lead representative for Steward Healthcare in most of Utah’s COVID response efforts. Over the course of the pandemic, he has gained a well-deserved reputation as a compassionate clinical leader with an eye for detail and an innate ability to synthesize complex issues into actionable results.
Dr. Jarrett has a long history of service to Utah’s healthcare community. He was the founder of South Valley Women’s Health Care in West Jordan in 1987. Under his leadership, his group played a significant role in the early growth and expansion of Jordan Valley Medical Center, including the development of a successful women’s services program and neonatal intensive care unit. In 2015 he and his practice partners received the “James R. Scott” award for clinical excellence, presented by the University of Utah’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Throughout his clinical career, Dr. Jarrett has been actively involved in medical leadership. He chaired the Physician Advisory Council for IASIS Healthcare Corporation for 14 years, from the Council’s founding in 2003 until 2017. Under his leadership, the Council became a training ground for future physician leaders in the IASIS system.
Prior to taking on his current regional CMO role for Steward Health Care, Dr. Jarrett served as Chief Medical Information Officer for IASIS Healthcare. In this position he oversaw the design and successful implementation of a new electronic health record. throughout the 18-hospital system.
Along with his work with IASIS and Steward, Dr. Jarrett served on several state-based committees, including the Utah Women’s and Newborn Quality Collaborative, Utah Tobacco Task Force and the Utah Healthcare Infection Prevention Committee. Additionally, he is a trustee on the governing board of Jordan Valley Medical Center, and previously served on the boards of the University of Utah School of Medicine Alumni Association and UHIMSS, among others.
Dr. Jarrett graduated from Weber State University in 1977 and from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1982. He completed an internal medicine internship and then a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah. He is board certified and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Jarrett is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah.
Dr. Jarrett’s extensive clinical and administrative background was critical to Utah’s COVID response efforts. He generously shared his expertise on several committees, including the UHA COVID-19 Hospital Coordination Workgroup, the UHA CMO Workgroup, Utah Crisis Standards of Care Committee, Utah Medical Command Response Team and Utah Scarce Resources Workgroup.
Greg Bell, President and CEO of the Utah Hospital Association, commented that “Arlen’s contribution to the state’s pandemic response cannot be overstated. His CMO peers came to respect him highly and rely on his wise counsel. We were privileged to have him as a part of our amazing clinical response leadership team.”
UHA is a private, not-for-profit trade association representing Utah’s hospitals and health systems.
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