Dr. James Shamiyeh Named Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at The University of Tennessee Medical Center

KNOXVILLE, TENN. (August 19, 2021) – The University of Tennessee Medical Center has announced the promotion of Dr. James Shamiyeh to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective September 1, 2021. Shamiyeh previously served as the medical center’s Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer.

According to David Hall, UT Medical Center’s Executive Vice President, in Shamiyeh’s new role, he will be responsible for the medical center’s overall facility operations including team member and patient safety and performance improvement, case management, clinical integration, clinical services, hospitalist medicine, perioperative services, emergency, trauma and critical care services, and patient placement.

“The team at The University of Tennessee Medical Center congratulates Dr. Shamiyeh on this well-deserved promotion,” said Hall. “Since 2005, he has served our medical center by demonstrating his talent and allegiance to our team members, physicians, and patients, and his attention to detail has been critical in ensuring the continued delivery of our mission. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been crucial in guiding our organization’s response with his unwavering dedication, leadership and commitment to healthcare and the East Tennessee community.”

“I am honored by this promotion and recognition,” said Shamiyeh. “Every day, I am amazed by the ongoing commitment and dedication of the medical center’s team in delivering efficient, high-quality care to our patients in a secure, focused, and caring manner. In my new leadership capacity, my goal will be to ensure the organization is appropriately aligned in order to evolve and pivot, as necessary, to meet the growing needs of the community as well as the healthcare industry.”

In addition to his beforementioned roles, Shamiyeh also served as Chief of Staff and Medical Director of the Heart Lung Vascular Institute. Throughout his tenure at the medical center, he has immersed himself in studying diseases and conditions with a strong focus on improving patient care. Utilizing his background and degree in engineering from Georgia Tech, Shamiyeh will continue to use his leadership skills to improve the quality, efficiency, and integration of care delivery. He received education in medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, completed his residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital and received a Master’s of Science in Public Health. He was Chief Resident at UAB in addition to being a Fellow of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He additionally earned his Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, graduated from the medical center’s Physician Leadership Academy, and was a member of Leadership Knoxville. He is in the current class of Leadership Tennessee.