BW Healthcare MBA Graduate Named Hospital President

The Baldwin Wallace Healthcare MBA program has long been developing top talent to lead medical and public health organizations throughout Northeast Ohio.

Among the latest graduates to assume a top leadership mantle is Dr. Adnan Tahir, MBA '06, who was elevated from senior vice president/chief clinical and administrative officer to president of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in downtown Cleveland at the beginning of the year.

This is Dr. Tahir's second tour of duty at St. Vincent. He practiced endocrinology and internal medicine after earning his medical degree from the American University of Beirut and completing his residency at the Cleveland Clinic. He then joined the medical staff at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in 1992.

Finding the right MBA fit

More than a decade into his career, Tahir began looking for an MBA program to prepare for greater leadership roles.

"At first, I explored distance learning options, but I realized that I needed an on-site, hands-on program," Tahir explains. "My whole career is all about people, so I see the value in face-to-face interaction."

Friends recommended he consider BW as a quality program right in his backyard.

"Once I got into the classroom experience, I knew attending BW was the best decision I could have made," Tahir says. "The learning that took place from interacting on group projects and sharing information with classmates added so much value. We each tackled healthcare issues from different angles. It was absolutely what I needed."

Providing Hospital Leadership

Four years after earning his BW MBA in 2006, Tahir was appointed chief medical officer for the Sisters of Charity Health System and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center.

Soon, he was recruited to become hospital director and chief medical officer of the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon, where he spent more than a decade and was key in implementing a strategic plan that invested in new medical facilities, established centers of excellence, and recruited physicians and nurses.

But in 2019, Cleveland was calling, and Dr. Tahir accepted a position as VP Primary Care for the Sisters of Charity Health System and transitioned to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center soon thereafter.

In his new role, Tahir continues to draw on his MBA skillset. "It's not so much what you know. Combining work experience with developed processes for critical thinking and problem-solving is the real, lasting value. This is what the MBA at BW added to my career," he concludes.

About The Sisters of Charity Health System

The Sisters of Charity Health System includes St. Vincent, two elder care facilities, three grantmaking foundations addressing the root causes of poverty and five community outreach organizations in Northeast Ohio and South Carolina. The health system is headquartered in Cleveland.