HCA's Southern Hills Hospital Names Suresh Ponnada CMO

Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, an HCA Healthcare facility in Las Vegas, has named Suresh Ponnada, MD, as its chief medical officer, according to a July 13 news release shared with Becker's Hospital Review. Ponnada joins from Sunrise Hospital, another HCA facility in the market.

In the role, Ponnada will help lead clinical strategy and support quality, safety, and care effectiveness across the hospital. The CMO position sits at the intersection of physician leadership and hospital operations, translating clinical priorities into measurable outcomes and bridging bedside care with administrative goals.

The move reflects a steady pattern across large hospital systems, where operators promote or recruit experienced physician executives from within their own networks to fill senior clinical roles. For HCA, one of the largest for-profit systems in the country, keeping leadership talent inside the market can smooth transitions and preserve institutional knowledge as hospitals compete on quality metrics and patient safety.