Mike Ward is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Covenant Health. Prior to joining Covenant Health in 2003, he spent 23-years as assistant vice president and director of systems integration working for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), where he managed software development teams in both Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and McLean, Virginia. Prior, he served a variety of industries/agencies in both the private and public sectors. He was also a systems manager for DeRoyal Industries for two years.

Ward received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Tennessee.

Ward currently serves as president of the board of the East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN), a health information exchange and regional health information organization (HIE/RHIO) which serves a 17-county region of east Tennessee. He is a certified healthcare chief information officer and a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). Ward currently serves on the board of the Tennessee chapter of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. He previously served on the board of the Tennessee chapter of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Why I work for Covenant Health:

“From a company perspective, our health system values, led by ‘In Service to God and Community,’ aligns completely with my personal servant-leadership philosophy. This basic alignment is such a compelling factor for me. Also, I deeply appreciate working with and being part of the Covenant Executive and Senior leadership teams. The perspective, voluntary ownership, and engagement of my peer group challenges, enables, and inspires me often. I’m honored and proud to be part of the IT Leadership team and an IT staff that works 24/7, 365 days a year to ‘Make IT Happen’ for Covenant Health. The energy, attitude, camaraderie and impact of the IT department is unparalleled across the healthcare industry. These service philosophies and values, combined with the continuing goal to improve healthcare for my family and my extended family, my church, and my community are the reasons I work at Covenant Health.”