Dr. Dipen Parekh: Noted healthcare innovator becomes the CEO of UHealth

This month, Dr. Dipen J. Parekh was named the chief executive officer of UHealth, as well as executive vice president for Health Affairs at the University of Miami.

Since joining UHealth in 2012, Dr. Parekh, a globally renowned urologic oncologist, healthcare innovator, and leader in academic medicine, has played a pivotal role each step of the way as the University of Miami Health System has grown into one of the top academic medical centers in the nation, the university says.

He has served as the chief operating officer of the University of Miami Health System since 2020, and alongside University of Miami President Joseph J. Echevarria, he has jointly engineered UHealth’s turnaround over the last five years. 

Dr. Parekh’s vision and expertise extend beyond his clinical and leadership roles. As a mentor and educator, he has trained surgeons and healthcare leaders, shaping the next generation of innovators in urology and healthcare. His global influence continues to advance the field, setting standards for excellence in patient care, surgical innovation, and healthcare administration.

Dr. Parekh says he will leverage his skills and credibility as a surgeon, clinical leader, and NCI-funded scientist to lead the faculty and clinicians at South Florida’s only academic health system, and to enhance its critical community partnership with Jackson Health System.

While serving as COO of UHealth, in 2021, Dr. Parekh was named executive dean for Clinical Affairs at the Miller School of Medicine, where he worked to build synergy between the academic and clinical missions at the University of Miami. 

Under his leadership as COO, Dr. Parekh oversaw operations, ambulatory strategy, and performance improvement initiatives. Since assuming that position in January 2020, he has been instrumental in enhancing clinical efficiency, improving patient outcomes, and aligning strategic priorities for one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. 

His contributions have been nationally cited, with Becker’s Hospital Review naming him among the top 60 academic health system COOs to know in 2024.

“I am laser-focused on ensuring UHealth becomes a leader in developing and deploying emerging and effective treatments to improve wellbeing in Miami and beyond,” he said.

Initially joining the institution as chair of the department of urology, Dr. Parekh is also an endowed professor of urology and the founding director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute.

Over the course of his career, he has performed more than 6,000 robotic urologic cancer surgeries, making him one of the most experienced practitioners worldwide. 

As he has throughout his tenure at the University of Miami, Dr. Parekh says he will continue to treat patients.

As a global leader in academic medicine, Dr. Parekh led a groundbreaking trial, published in The Lancet in 2018, that established the efficacy of robotic-assisted surgery for bladder cancer. He is a member of the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida; the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons; and the Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons.

“I am driven by curiosity, and as an institution, our goal is to set the highest standards in terms of everything that we do, whether it is taking care of our patients, or innovating or educating our next generation of workforce,” he said. “We are going to raise very high standards and will work towards outreaching those standards. I look forward to working with our exceptional faculty, staff, and our key partner, the Jackson Health System, to lead us into this next chapter, one grounded in collaboration, compassion, and a bold vision for the future of academic medicine.”

Dr. Parekh spoke with Miami Today reporter Abraham Galvan.

Read the full interview in this week’s print or digital edition of Miami Today. Full access is available exclusively to our subscribers. Click here to access your subscription or to subscribe!

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