Carilion Clinic Leadership Appointments
Following the promotion of Steve Arner to President and Chief Executive Officer and several retirements, Carilion Clinic announced the following promotions.
Executive Vice President Nick Conte to be Chief Governance Officer.
This new title is in addition to his current role of Chief Legal Officer. As Chief Governance Officer, he will oversee corporate governance, regulatory and compliance policies and practices for the health system.
Prior to joining Carilion, Nick was a principal with Woods Rogers PLC, the largest law firm in Western Virginia, where he served as its Chair. He joined Carilion in 2016 to lead its legal team. Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from the College of William and Mary.
Mike Abbott, Pharm.D., has been promoted to President of Carilion Medical Center.
This includes Carilion’s Roanoke campus, which includes Carilion Roanoke Memorial and Carilion Roanoke Community hospitals and several clinical and practice sites in the vicinity. This new role is in addition to his current role as senior vice president with oversight of the Cardiovascular Institute, Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery and oncology services.
Mike began his career at Carilion in 1986 as a pharmacist. He returned in 2018 to become vice president of the Cardiovascular Institute after nearly 26 years as an HCA LewisGale Medical Center executive, where he was responsible, at various points, for pharmacy, surgical services and oncology before becoming Chief Operating Officer. He became senior vice president of hospital operations for Carilion Medical Center in 2020.
Paul Davenport, R.N., has been promoted to senior vice president.
In his expanded role, he will oversee the delivery of outpatient services across much of the health system, as well as operations at the Parkview campus.
Paul’s career in healthcare began in 1993 after transitioning from his role as a firefighter to serving as an EMS medic at Carilion Radford Community Hospital. Since then, he has held numerous nursing and operational leadership roles, culminating in his appointment as vice president in 2011.
In his new position, Paul will lead teams across the Departments of Emergency Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, and Radiology. He will also oversee leadership for Carilion’s Emergency Departments, air and ground transportation services, the System Operations Center, and the Virtual Care Operations Center.
Tami Frost, R.N., has been promoted to senior vice president and System Chief Nursing Officer.
Tami joined Carilion in 2023 to become vice president and Chief Nursing Officer. She previously worked at Trident Medical Center in Charleston, S.C., where she served as chief nursing executive. She has more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare, including senior roles at hospitals in South Carolina, Florida and Nevada. She began her career as a staff nurse and has a strong history of leading nursing teams.
Shyam Odeti, M.D., has been named Chief Medical Officer for Carilion Medical Center and Carilion New River Valley Medical Center.
In this new role he will oversee quality improvement, patient safety, driving efficiency, patient experience and physician engagement, enhancing patient access, care utilization and care integration across the two facilities.
Dr. Odeti joined Carilion in 2021 as Section Chief of Hospital Medicine. He previously worked at Ballad Health for more than five years and served as Hospitalist Medical Director. He attended medical school at Kakatiya Medical College in India and earned a Master of Science from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from East Tennessee State University, where he also interned and completed his residency.
Luis Richard has been promoted to senior vice president of Supply Chain.
He now has responsibility for Real Estate and Property Management in addition to Supply Chain, Dinning and Nutrition Services, and Sustainability.
Luis joined Carilion in 2023 as vice president of Supply Chain. He previously worked in various leadership roles while in Chicago, Illinois, New York and Connecticut, spanning more than 25 years in healthcare. He earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and a Master of Business Administration in healthcare administration from Benedictine University.
Wrenn Brendel, R.N., has been promoted to vice president of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
She will oversee clinical and service operations, including its Level 1 Trauma Center. Wrenn was most recently senior director of Carilion Clinic Emergency Services.
She began her career as a nurse at Carilion in 2006 and served in several nursing leadership roles before becoming director of Emergency Services in 2016. Wrenn earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Nursing degree from the former Jefferson College of Health Sciences and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.
Rhonda Shannon has been named vice president of Carilion Clinic’s Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery.
This is in addition to her role as vice president of Finance. Rhonda joined Carilion in 1996 and worked in various leadership roles from financial advisor to senior director of several clinical areas before becoming vice president in 2016. She earned her undergraduate degree at Concord University and obtained a Master of Healthcare Administration from the former Jefferson College of Health Sciences.