RENOWN HEALTH LEADERSHIP

Adnan “Eddy” Akbar, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer for Renown Acute Care. Dr. Akbar is an experienced, dynamic physician executive and operational leader with a robust record of hospital operations, medical staff leadership and engagement, quality improvement, patient safety, patient experience, risk management, utilization management and clinical documentation improvement. He oversees physicians at Renown Regional Medical Center and Renown South Meadows Medical Center.  

Dr. Akbar has been with Renown Health for seven years. Previously, he served as Secretary of Medical Staff, an Internal Medicine physician, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Division Chief for Hospital Medicine and most recently as a Hospitalist Physician of Renown Medical Group and Associate Chief Medical Officer of Renown Regional Medical Center.  

Dr. Akbar completed his residency in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and earned his medical degree from Aga Khan Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. He is currently completing his master’s in healthcare administration at Cornell University. His research interests include observation criteria and appropriate utilization management of hospitalized patients, development and usage of dedicated EPIC® order sets, advancement and development of Milestone appropriate care during acute hospitalization and transitional care policies.  

Dr. Akbar is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Nevada-Reno, School of Medicine and a member of the Clinical Faculty at St. Georges University School of Medicine, Grenada. Dr. Akbar is fluent in four languages, including Urdu, Pushto and Hindi. 

Dr. Paul J. Hauptman is a cardiologist and nationally recognized investigator in outcomes assessment in advanced heart failure. He has served in many academic leadership roles prior to coming to Reno, most recently as Dean at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine-Knoxville and Chief Academic Officer at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. As Chief Academic Officer for Renown Health and Dean of the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, his role reflects the cornerstone of the 50-year affiliation and oversees the integrated clinical education and clinical research enterprises shared by the two institutions.

Susan Lee, DO, MBA, is a skilled physician executive and operational leader bringing over 17 years of dedicated hospital medicine, clinical quality and administration experience to Renown Health. Before joining Renown in 2020, Dr. Lee was the Section Chief of Hospital Medicine at Carilion Clinic, a 7-facility nonprofit, integrated health system based in Roanoke, Virginia.

She is the Chief Operating Officer and Administrator at Renown South Meadows Medical Center. Formerly, she served as Acute Medical specialist Chair and Chief Medical Officer of Acute Care at Renown.

Dr. Lee works with the medical leadership staff and is responsible for leading Renown’s South Meadows campus to achieve its strategic and operational goals while ensuring standards of excellence are met for patients and staff. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, Dr. Lee has based her clinical practice as a hospitalist on the mind-body connection and a collaborative model with patients and families.

Dr. Lee received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and completed her post-baccalaureate educational program at the University of Miami. In addition, she obtained her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Nova Southeastern University and her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

She is actively involved in the American Association for Physician Leadership, the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

Mark Neu brings over twenty years of strategic compliance experience to his role as Chief Corporate Compliance Officer at Renown Health.  

In helping ensure all compliance efforts are integrated enterprise-wide, Mark is an expert at managing both external regulations and internal policies. This includes comprehensive employee training and communications around Renown’s Code of Conduct.  

Before joining the Renown Health team, Mark served as Compliance and Privacy Officer for Alta Hospitals System in Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in healthcare administration, both from California State University, Long Beach. Mark is also a certified compliance and ethics professional and carries a certification in healthcare compliance.

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Chris Nicholas completed his bachelor’s degree in business management at Texas Tech University and has a master’s of science in healthcare administration from the University of Texas, Arlington.

Chris began his career in healthcare as a skilled nursing facility administrator operating multiple facilities in Texas and Nevada before transitioning to inpatient rehabilitation hospital leadership with Renown Health in 2016.

Over the last seven years, Chris has served Renown by building high-performing teams and leaders focused on driving quality, service and financial outcomes. Before serving in his current position, Chris was VP & Administrator of Renown South Meadows Medical Center and Neuroscience Service Line. He was also the Senior Administrator of Rehab Services, leading post-acute services and partnerships. Chris started his career with Renown as an Administrator of Rehabilitation Services.

His wife Denise and young daughter Maddi love calling Reno home. As an avid outdoors person, Chris enjoys the many opportunities and access to hiking, mountain biking and snowboarding that Reno provides.

Chris’ dedication to improving healthcare using data, innovation and technology has inspired teams to work together to achieve significant results that have benefited many.

Melodie Osborn is the Chief Nurse Executive for Renown Health, responsible for the organization's nursing practices. As a member of the executive leadership, she supports and facilitates patient-centered care by creating an environment that promotes high quality and consistency in the standard of practice across Renown Health. In addition, she serves as the executive nursing voice for more than 2,700 nurses. 

Before joining Renown Health in 2011, Melodie served as the Administrative Director for Critical Care and Cardiovascular Services at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center. 

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Nevada, Reno, and received her MBA in Health Care Administration from Columbia Southern University.  

In 2015, Melodie was elected President of the Nevada Organization of Nurse Leaders. She is currently the advisor of the Nevada Organization for Nurse Leaders, a statewide organization that fosters the development of nurse leaders through mentorship, collaboration and education.

Charles (Chuck) Podesta has more than 37 years of experience working in information technology (IT), 26 of which he served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at healthcare organizations across the country, including at the University of California Irvine Health, University of Vermont Health Network, Steward Health in Texas and Berkshire Health System in Massachusetts. Chuck joined Renown Health from the University of Connecticut Health System. 

As CIO of Renown Health, Chuck leads our patient-oriented IT teams and develops technological innovation strategies that drive financial and quality improvement. In addition to his strategic involvement leading healthcare IT organizations at academic medical centers, health systems and community hospitals, Chuck also brings expertise in spearheading programs and solutions related to cybersecurity, virtual care and analytics.  

Chuck is an avid marathon runner for various charities including cancer research, Multiple Sclerosis, Teams for Kids, Alzheimer’s and other rehabilitation programs across the country. He has completed the Abbott Six-Star World Major Marathons which include Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. 

He volunteers for Catholic Charities USA and is active in his church. In addition, Chuck is a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society as well as the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and the Society for Information Management.