Ronald Lavater, MPA, FACHE is a healthcare executive with 25 years of leadership experience in public and investor-owned healthcare companies in the United States and international markets. With extensive knowledge in hospital operations and ambulatory services including retail urgent care, Ronald has a deep and broad-based understanding of the healthcare services sector with a global perspective.

Ronald joined the IHF as CEO in December of 2020. Before the IHF, Ronald served as CEO of WellStreet Urgent Care headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia from 2017 to 2020 and as the CEO for Al Noor Hospitals Group, Plc, based in the UAE from 2014 to 2016. He also worked for six years for Johns Hopkins Medicine International, serving first as CEO of Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi for five years and later as a senior executive representing many of the company’s interests in the Middle East.

Ronald began his healthcare career in 1993 as an analyst for senior management of insurance company Blue Cross and Blue Shield. After a few years, he was recruited by Hospital Corporation of America where he held several leadership roles in U.S. hospitals, including CEO and COO. He has also served as a Non-Executive Director for Optegra Eye Health Care.

Ronald holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in public administration from Florida State University. He is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and previously completed a two-year term as president of the Middle East & North Africa ACHE group.