Audrey Gregory, Ph.D., has been named president/CEO for AdventHealth in Lake, Flagler, and Volusia counties. Gregory will assume leadership on Oct. 25, and report to Randy Haffner, president/CEO for the Central Florida Division.

Audrey Gregory

Most recently, she served as the group chief executive officer for Detroit Medical Center (DMC), which is part of Tenet Health. The Detroit Medical Center is a leading regional health care system that operates eight hospitals and institutes, including Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Receiving Hospital, Harper University Hospital, Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, Hutzel Women’s Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Sinai-Grace Hospital and DMC Heart Hospital.

“Audrey is a dynamic and transformational leader who understands how to lead provider and care teams toward operational excellence,” Terry Shaw, president/CEO for AdventHealth, says in a news release. “She is a champion of health equity and committed to ensuring all members of a community have access to equitable health care, which connects seamlessly to AdventHealth’s mission and promise of wholeness.”

In her new role, Gregory will oversee the strategic direction, development and execution of key strategies that support the total network of care and will help build influential relationships with key constituents, community partners and consumers in Lake, Flagler, and Volusia counties. AdventHealth operates six hospitals in these three counties, with a seventh hospital under construction in Palm Coast. Nearly 8,000 AdventHealth team members work in this tri-county area.

“Audrey is a highly respected health care leader whose passion for patient-centered care shines through from the moment you meet her,” adds Haffner in the release. “With her leadership and expertise as a clinician, I am confident we will be able to further our delivery of faith-based, whole-person care in the communities we serve in Volusia, Flagler and Lake counties.”

Gregory came to DMC from Tenet Health’s Saint Francis Healthcare system in Memphis, Tenn., where she served as market CEO and CEO for Saint Francis Hospital – Memphis. She worked with Tenet for over 17 years in a variety of senior leadership roles, including chief nursing officer, chief operating officer and CEO for Placentia-Linda Hospital in Southern California. She is a recipient of three Tenet Circle of Excellence Awards, recognizing her leadership in operational excellence.

“I’m honored to join AdventHealth, a faith-based health care system that sets a bold vision for more equitable and consumer-centric care,” says Gregory in the release. “I look forward to building relationships and partnering with our leaders, providers and care teams as we continue Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ to our surrounding communities.”

She earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Georgia Southern University Armstrong Campus in Savannah, Ga. In 2011, she completed her doctorate in global leadership from Lynn University in Boca Raton. She served on the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s board of trustees and was appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities. Gregory also served as a member of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team and as a board member for the Detroit Regional Chamber.

In 2020, she was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the nation’s Top 25 Minority Leaders in Healthcare and was named one of 70 African American leaders in health care to know by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Gregory takes joy in reading, traveling, mentoring others and spending time with her large family. She and her husband Owen have three children: Olivia, 24, Owen, 19, and Omari, 14.