(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Allegheny Health Network)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced today that Nipun B. Merchant, MD, who is an internationally recognized healthcare executive, researcher, and surgical oncologist, has been appointed chair of the network’s Department of Surgery and its first surgeon-in-chief, effective February of 2027.
The newly created surgeon-in-chief role reflects the commitment that AHN has to creating a more integrated model of surgical care across its network that is growing.
Dr. Merchant’s appointment as chair represents an investment that is broader in elevating the Department of Surgery to national prominence in education, patient care, and research.
Dr. Merchant joins AHN from the University of Miami Health System and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, which are where his leadership spanned clinical care, health system operations and scientific investigation.
He was the Alan S. Livingstone Professor of Surgery and served in senior leadership roles including Chief Surgical Officer, Executive Director of Perioperative Services and Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology.
He was also Sylvester’s Associate Director of Translational Research and founding Director of the Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute, which are roles that brought together cancer care, program development and translational science.
Dr. Merchant will serve as the senior physician executive for AHN’s surgical enterprise as surgeon-in-chief to provide strategic oversight for surgical services across the hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers of the network.
He will lead the Department of Surgery’s academic, clinical and strategic growth as chair of that department, with a focus on developing and recruiting outstanding faculty, expanding surgical programs that are advanced, building its research enterprise and strengthening education.
He will also help to drive improvements in patient experience, safety and quality by working closely with physicians, nurses and operational leaders.