Natale named associate chief medical officer for children’s health

UC Davis Vice Chair of Quality and Safety JoAnne Natale has been appointed associate chief medical officer for children’s health at UC Davis Health. Natale will assist Chief Medical Officer J. Douglas Kirk.

In this new role, Natale’s responsibilities will include providing expertise for high quality and safe patient care, and coordinating care and services for patients throughout the health system. She will also review and provide physician perspective for policies that relate to care coordination, care progression and patient access.

"It is my privilege to provide collaborative leadership for our nationally recognized UC Davis Children's Hospital,” Natale said. “I am committed to supporting our interprofessional pediatric teams that care for vulnerable infants, children and adolescents, as the associate chief medical officer for children’s health. Whether your child is a premature infant or a high school football player, high-quality pediatric care is available at UC Davis Children's Hospital every day and around the clock.”

Natale is a pediatric critical care physician with an M.D. in pediatrics from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in physiology at University of Michigan Medical School. Her clinical interests include health care quality, patient safety and effective and compassionate communication in pediatrics.