In his new position, Sanders will serve as president and CEO of UVM Health Network Medical Group, executive vice president of UVM Health Clinical Affairs and senior associate dean of clinical affairs at the University of Vermont.
Sanders has held leadership positions at the OU Health Sciences Center since 2013, including serving as interim provost before officially being appointed in December 2015.
“Under Provost Sanders’ leadership, the Health Sciences Center campus has achieved milestones in research and clinical care while providing multidisciplinary health education opportunities for our students,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “We thank Provost Sanders for his tremendous service to his alma mater, and we are incredibly proud that an OU alumnus has been selected for this prestigious role at UVM Health.”
Sanders was a pivotal leader in the buy-out and transition of the OU Medicine hospital system from HCA Healthcare to local, non-profit management in February 2018. He served on the OU Medicine Board of Directors, first as vice chair and then as acting chair. In the past year, he has worked diligently with campus leaders to transition the hospital system and outpatient faculty practice of OU Health Physicians, comprised of OU College of Medicine faculty, into the state’s only comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, clinics and centers of excellence, operating as a single entity, OU Health. Since July 1, he has served as co-chair of the OU Health Board of Directors. Sanders’ replacement in this board role will be announced soon.
“Our university, our health care enterprise and our entire state will be the beneficiaries of Provost Sanders’ dedication and service in the decades to come,” Harroz said. “Although he will be profoundly missed here at OU, we are remarkably proud of the progress we’ve achieved to deepen our presence on the national stage in education, research and clinical care. We are also grateful to Dean Gary Raskob for stepping into this interim role and sharing his renowned academic and research expertise with our entire health enterprise.”
Raskob serves as dean of OU’s Hudson College of Public Health and is a Regents Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine. Raskob celebrated his 30th anniversary at OU this fall. His career at OU began in 1991, and he was named dean in 2002. He is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on thrombosis and antithrombotic therapy and has published extensively on these topics. Raskob brings depth and breadth of knowledge in clinical research, including clinical trials and applied research. He has served as an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, and is a past Chair of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Board of Directors. Notably, Raskob has served as chair of the Oklahoma City-County Board of Health since 2017, and in this capacity has helped lead the greater Oklahoma City community through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My colleagues and I are incredibly happy for Provost Sanders as he enters this next stage in his life and career,” Raskob said. “It is humbling and an honor to take on this responsibility as the national search for his replacement commences. The OU Health Sciences Center is positioned to reach even greater heights as we educate the next generation of health leaders and pursue groundbreaking research. I look forward to leading our campus and partnering with OU Health during this transition.”
As OU Health Sciences Center transitions leadership, the focus on strategic planning for the next five to 10 years, growing the health care workforce pipeline for the state of Oklahoma, alignment and ongoing integration with OU Health, and clinical research infrastructure will be major priorities, Raskob said. Sanders’ final day at OU will be Jan. 15, 2022.
“The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and OU Health is a special place,” Sanders said. “I am incredibly proud of the entire team for the many accomplishments we have shared together over the years. Although it is a next chapter for my family and me, I am a proud Oklahoman and OU alumnus, and I will always be a part of the OU family.”
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information visit www.ou.edu.
About OU Health Sciences Center
One of the nation’s few academic health centers with all health professions colleges – Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Graduate Studies and School of Community Medicine – the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs on campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. For more information, visit ouhsc.edu.
About OU Health
OU Health is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, clinics and centers of excellence. With 11,000 employees and more than 1,300 physicians and advanced practice providers, OU Health is home to Oklahoma’s largest doctor network with a complete range of specialty care. OU Health serves Oklahoma and the region with the state’s only freestanding children’s hospital, the only National Cancer Institute-Designated OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center and Oklahoma’s flagship hospital, which serves as the state’s only Level 1 trauma center. OU Health’s oncology program at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center was named Oklahoma’s top facility for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report in its 2020-21 rankings. OU Health also was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as high performing in these specialties: Colon Surgery, COPD and Congestive Heart Failure. OU Health’s mission is to lead healthcare in patient care, education and research. To learn more, visit ouhealth.com.
