Miguel Machado, MD, Announces Retirement Plans; Flagler Health + Appoints David Rice, MD, Executive Vice President & Chief Physician Executive

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – March 4, 2021 – David Rice, MD, has joined Flagler Health + as Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive. In this role, Dr. Rice will oversee clinical quality, patient safety, performance improvement, infection prevention, medical affairs and related functions across the Flagler Health + enterprise. He will lead efforts to further advance the organization’s culture of high reliability, working closely with medical staff leadership, First Coast Health Alliance and other key stakeholders.

Dr. Rice brings more than a decade of executive-level leadership experience and proven expertise in advancing the quality, safety and efficiency of patient services. He most recently served as the Senior Vice President, System Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer at Baptist Health. Prior roles included Chief Quality Officer of Coastal Community Health and Chief Medical Officer of Baptist Physician Partners.

“Dr. Rice is an accomplished, creative and dedicated physician and health care executive with distinguished academic and professional background,” stated UFlagler Health + President and CEO Jason Barrett. “He brings expertise, experience and interpersonal skills to this role that are key to our continued success as we deploy a very aggressive growth strategy and our vision to advance physical, social and economic health for the communities we serve.”

Dr. Rice is Board-Certified in Internal Medicine. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Florida and a Master of Healthcare Leadership from Brown University. He is committed to lifetime learning and has completed professional certificate programs at Stanford University and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I am honored to join the Flagler Health + family and look forward to partnering with the Board, health system leadership, team members, physicians and our community to continue the mission of the organization,” commented Rice. “Flagler Health + has a long and storied reputation of clinical excellence, the provision of high quality care, and the focus on people necessary to succeed in health care today.”

Dr. Rice’s appointment comes as current EVP & Chief Medical Officer Miguel Machado, MD, announced his plans to retire in September of this year. Rice will work alongside Machado in the coming months. Recognition of Dr. Machado’s contributions, distinguished career and more than 20-years of service to Flagler Health + will be issued at the time of his retirement.

To learn more about Flagler Health+, visit flaglerhealth.org.

###