Steve Davis, MD, MMM, is president and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s, which was recognized as the No. 1 pediatric health system in the nation for 2023-24 by U.S. News & World Report. Cincinnati Children’s, a $3.4 billion nonprofit with over 19,500 employees, is the region’s largest health system and largest employer. Dr. Davis has been chief executive officer of Cincinnati Children’s since Nov. 22, 2021. He previously served six years as chief operating officer.

Dr. Davis oversaw the health system’s largest expansion, the $600 million Critical Care Building that opened in 2021 for patients with cancer, heart ailments or other complex conditions. It also features an emergency department. In May 2024, Dr. Davis announced plans for the Applied Gene and Cell Therapy Center, which will enable an increase in clinical trials of innovative drugs and biological therapeutics for patients with cancer, blood diseases or genetic disorders. The $60 million center is to open in 2025.
 
Under the leadership of Dr. Davis, Cincinnati Children’s is also bringing care closer to the homes of patients and families. That includes the 2023 opening of a medical building in Centerville, Ohio, and the 2022 addition of specialty clinics to a primary care location in Batesville, Ind. In 2025, Cincinnati Children’s will open a medical building in Union, Ky., and another in the Eastgate area of Clermont County, Ohio. Dr. Davis also helped launch HealthVine, which coordinates care for more than 100,000 kids across Southwest Ohio who are enrolled in Medicaid.

Cincinnati Children’s, a $3.4 billion nonprofit with over 19,500 employees, is the region’s largest health system and largest employer. The organization’s 1.7 million patient encounters every year benefit kids from all 50 states and dozens of countries, including children with complex or rare disorders. Nearly one-third of the health system’s employees are engaged in research focused on developing medical treatments or cures.

In 2022, Dr. Davis became vice chair of an international network of more than 140 pediatric hospitals – the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety. In 2025, he will become chair of the network, whose efforts have saved over 27,500 children from serious harm and trimmed nearly $586 million in healthcare costs.

A pediatric critical care physician, Dr. Davis came to Cincinnati Children’s in 2015. Before that, he was chief operating officer of Hillcrest Hospital, which is part of the Cleveland Clinic system. Dr. Davis earned a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, an MD from the University of Vermont, a master’s in medical management from Carnegie Mellon, and a master’s in strategic leadership from Michigan State. He was a resident at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, and completed a fellowship in pediatric critical care at Johns Hopkins Hospital.